Brooke Halliday is among the White Ferns who are getting batting time in India.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Hours and hours at the batting crease in stifling conditions might sound like a nightmare scenario for some cricketers but for a select group of New Zealand batters it is “a dream come true to have those conditions” according to the White Ferns coach.
Ten batters have linked up with the Chennai Super Kings Academy in India for a batting camp that will ideally prepare the White Ferns players for the conditions they are likely to face at the Cricket World Cup from September to November in India and Sri Lanka.
Coach Ben Sawyer said it was the first time he knew of that money had been found in the budget for a specialised overseas batting camp that allowed the players to not only face “lots of net bowlers” on pitches that are “really, really big turners” but also acclimatise to the heat that is in the high 30s.
Sawyer said what the group were doing in India over a couple of weeks could not be replicated in New Zealand at their training facility at Lincoln.
“Our batters have had the bat in their hands for two, two and a half hours, every single day in the heat and we just can’t get that back home.
“In terms of our bowlers could not bowl for two hours. We don’t have the number that can come through in the winter, especially, we can’t really get net bowlers back home because nobody’s in cricket season, apart from our White Ferns and and nobody’s really training so they’re not ready to bowl.
“So to be able to come here and and not just face coaches throwing in the indoor nets, but to actually have live bowlers of all different styles that are really good in these conditions that are obviously challenging our girls, if you’re a batter I think it’s a bit of a dream come true to have those conditions.”
Sawyer said the academy had been able to provide bowlers of all styles on request and in big numbers. For example 20 to 30 net bowlers had been bowling deliveries for the New Zealanders in just one session.
The academy coaches had also put on a “batting masterclass” with tips on how they would play spin.
The seven contracted White Ferns attending the camp had been to India once before but the three development players had not.
Sawyer called the conditions the players were training in “a bit extreme” but he thought the challenge was worth it.
In wanting to leave no stone unturned in preparation for the world cup Sawyer had sought advice from High Performance Sport New Zealand about how best to prepare players for the heat.
The advice from those who had worked with the Tokyo Olympians, who had battled intense heat while competing, was to acclimatise to the conditions a couple of months before your competition and then go back home and then if you can acclimatise again two weeks before a competition that was the best outcome.
The White Ferns’ nutritionist was also helping the players with how to be fueled properly in the heat.
For the players not selected to make the trip to India, they were doing some work in heat chambers including some bike sessions in them in New Zealand.
“Liz Green, our high performance boss, has done a great job in being able to get a budget for us to come here and really plan that out. I hope we’re doing everything right to give us the best chance at the World Cup,” Sawyer said.
Prior to the world cup the White Ferns will play warm-up matches against England in Dubai.
New Zealand’s first game of the world cup is against Australia on 1 October.