Quadrangular warm-up for World Cup - Sthalekar

Looking forward to the Quadrangular tournament in India starting February 21, Lisa Sthalekar, the Australian vice-captain, said that the event is like the semi-final stage of the World Cup as the top four teams - Australia, England, New Zealand and India - will be up against each other.

Each team will play the other three twice between February 21 and March 3 and then the top two will meet at the final while the bottom two play for third place on March 5 in Chennai.

"We want to play as many international matches as we can. That's the best way for us to prepare for the World Cup in 2009, which is our major focus," Sthalekar said. "The teams are improving all the time and we have no expectation that the series is going to be easy."

Sthalekar, named Australia's Women's Cricketer of the Year at the Allan Border Medal night on February 5, was born in India in 1979 before migrating to Australia in 1983. She has played five Tests and 54 ODIs for Australia and averages 29.17 with the bat and 26.41 with her offbreak bowling.

Visiting India as a member of the Australian side for the second time, Sthalekar is hopeful that they will have a chance to play in front of some large crowds. "I always enjoy touring India because of the challenge, my connection with India and playing against friends in the Indian side," she said. "The Indian fans know and love their cricket so that's something we're really looking forward to because that opportunity doesn't come around often."

Sthalekar made 152 runs and took eight wickets when Australia visited India in 2004-05 and won the seven-match ODI series 4-3 . This time round there will be seven players, in the 14-member squad, visting the country for the first time. Sthalekar admits that playing India in India is always a challenge. "Their record at home is impressive and because the conditions faced there are different for the rest of us, it will be extremely hard." She also admitted that playing New Zealand at home at the start of the 2006-07 season was good preparation for the upcoming tournament though the 5-0 scoreline did not accurately reflect the closelness of the contest. England under Charlotte Edwards, Sthalekar said, also would be tough opponents and that Australia were under no illusion that the tournament would not be challenging.

Sthalekar, Cricket New South Wales' High Performance Manager for Female Programs, feels that there has been a gradual improvement in raising the profile of the women's game and that as long as they are able to schedule more matches women's cricket is moving forward in a positive manner.

"Women's cricket is certainly popular around the world, particularly in the subcontinent, where we are expecting some large crowds. So to have a series in India where there is genuine interest is an advantage.

"The more resources that can be applied to grow the game - people, coaching and development, sponsorship etc - will help the overall development," she said.