Shane Deitz taking charge for his first series as the new head coach, and Australia will influence West Indies as they attempt to topple the world champions on their home soil over the next two weeks, ahead of the opening T20I in Sydney, Deitz has straightforward advice for them: play with freedom and have fun.
Shane Deitz taking charge for his first series as the new head coach, and Australia will influence West Indies as they attempt to topple the world champions on their home soil over the next two weeks.
Deitz, a former South Australia wicketkeeper-batsman who has also coached the women’s teams of Bangladesh and the Netherlands, took up his role last month, although this tour is his first opportunity to get the squad together.
However, Australia struggled in the Ashes, losing both white-ball series to retain earn with an overall draw; they will start the match as heavy favorites because this is the first bilateral tour of the country since 2014. After losing 15 consecutive T20 Internationals, they had won their last 5 games; however, the turnaround in their losing record was too late to save their T20 World Cup campaign in South Africa.
Ahead of the opening T20I in Sydney, Deitz has straightforward advice for them: play with freedom and have fun.
“Got out there and enjoy it. Enjoy the challenge and play with freedom,” “We’ve got nothing to lose. Australia is the world’s best team for a long time now. We’ve got to find an identity for how we want to play. Using that natural ability and talent and letting that flow is the way I’m looking to do it. Play with a smile on your face, have fun.”
As the team works to prepare for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh next year, Captain Hayley Matthews, who will join Melbourne Renegades for the WBBL after this trip, is totally on board with this concept.
“We are definitely up for the challenge,”
she said.
“At the end of the day if we are going to compete with the best teams in the world that’s the brand of cricket we are going to have to play. Teams are now scoring 160-170 runs in T20 games and don’t reckon anyone’s going to score or win games by just nudging it around.
“Not only the younger players, but everyone within the team has to have the freedom to go out there and push their boundaries, push their limits and that’s what we are encouraging.”
Matthews, who led the West Indies in runs scored and wickets taken at the 2022 ODI World Cup, will be essential to their success. He is averaging 43.33 with the bat and 15.78 with the ball in T20Is this season. She enters the tour, after winning player of the match in the WCPL final.
“Her performances over the last 12 months or longer have been unbelievable,”
Deitz said.
“She’s one of the best in the world, for sure. I’ve been so impressed with her leadership and captaincy within the group. It’s amazing for her age to be such a great leader. We are enjoying our time working together, we think along the same lines. Think the team’s in good hands with her.”
Matthews added:
“He’s gelled really well with the group and tried to get into the culture of the girls a little bit. At the same, he’s spoken a lot about us progressing in the right direction and getting the youngsters to a certain standard and becoming a more consistent team.”
West Indies defeated New South Wales by four wickets to get a head start on the T20I series, despite falling to 8 for 3 in their chase. Shemaine Campbelle, an experienced player, led the way with 33, and Zaida James, 18, one of a group of young players selected for the tour, contributed to finishing the chase.
“There’s definitely a lot of youth coming through, [it’s about] harnessing that talent and putting in a world-class high-performance programmed around them to produce international standard players,”
Deitz said.
“There’s a lot to work with. We want to win every game, but you have to have a longer-term vision to develop players and allow them to make mistakes along the way.
“We want to find a nucleus of players for that [T20] World Cup, it’s a year away now, and we are building towards that, so we have to work with the players to get them ready.”
Alyssa Healy, the captain of Australia, who is filling in for Meg Lanning while she is away and will play her 250th international match on Sunday, is cautious of the West Indies’ potential threat.
“I think they are a damaging side,”
she said.
“Maybe the results over the last 12 months don’t quite represent the side they are and how much damage they can do. They’ve got two of the best players in the world at the top of the order and some damaging new-ball options as well. If Hayley Matthews gets going at North Sydney Oval it will be really hard to stop.
“We aren’t taking them lightly at all, don’t think you can take any team in world cricket lightly at the moment, everyone is beating everyone which is great for our sport, so we’ll have to put our best foot forward.”