\u201cAsh is developing into an outstanding leader for Australian cricket,\u201d Mott told reporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer cricket IQ is as high as anyone in the world at the moment, and she\u2019s learned off some of the great leaders in Australian cricket, so it\u2019s just cherry ripe now for her to take this team.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s got some handy people around her in Ellyse and Alyssa, so she\u2019ll leverage off them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe comms with the support staff has been exceptional, and long may that continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ash Gardner of the Sixers. Photo by Paul Kane\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Australia could be searching for a new captain in the near future as skipper Alyssa Healy approaches the twilight of her international career, revealing the most recent edition of the World Cup would be her last. Tahlia McGrath has served as Healy\u2019s deputy since the retirement of Meg Lanning in 2023, while young all-rounder Annabel Sutherland also looms as candidates.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, former Australian captain Meg Lanning talked up Phoebe Litchfield\u2019s leadership qualities, throwing her name into the mix.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look at our group, and we\u2019ve got so many natural leaders, I just learn off them,\u201d Litchfield said in response to Lanning\u2019s comments. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if the day came, I\u2019d definitely grab it with both hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I can assure you that, the likes of Ash Gardner, Sophie Molineux, Annabel Sutherland, Tahlia McGrath, we\u2019ve got just an amazing group of beautiful leaders, and I just look up to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if I end up getting it (one day), it\u2019s because of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Mott claimed that he recognised Gardner\u2019s leadership credentials during his tenure as Australian coach, which came to an end following the 2022 World Cup campaign in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer leadership was always there,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven as a young player, I saw her in some camps up at the National Cricket Centre, and people gravitated towards Ash at a very, very early age. She had that natural leadership. <\/p>\n
\u201cFirst and foremost, she\u2019s just a really authentic leader, there\u2019s no fuss about it. She\u2019s a very straight talker, very calm presence, and is a very popular member.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Ash is going to turn into probably one of the better leaders that has ever been produced in Australian cricket.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be Einstein to work out that she\u2019s a potential leader down the track, as are a number of the players in that squad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scorchers v Sixers WBBL Highlights | 13:33<\/p>\n
Australia was eliminated during the knockouts of the recent World Cup campaign in the subcontinent, losing to India in the semi-finals. Having also suffered a shock semi-finals defeat to South Africa during last year\u2019s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, the powerhouse nation has lost possession of both major ICC trophies.<\/p>\n
However, Mott argued there was no need to panic for the Australians, adamant that Healy\u2019s star-studded team was still the best in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving watched from a distance, I think the team\u2019s as strong as it\u2019s ever been,\u201d Mott said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing thing in World Cups that sometimes the best team doesn\u2019t win, and I\u2019m not taking anything away from India, but Australia had a slightly off day (in the semi-final).<\/p>\n
\u201cI still think Australia\u2019s the best team in the world, and I\u2019m not on my own there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve all been waiting for India to come through and break through, so from a world cricket point of view, particularly in the women\u2019s game, it\u2019s a huge shot in the arm. Disappointing as it is (for Australia), I think that the game itself will be better for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of the Australian team, I think they\u2019re not far off what they need to be. It\u2019s going to hurt, but as we found in 2017, sometimes those things happen for a reason and can motivate you and kick you to even higher levels, so hopefully that\u2019s the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure Shelley Nitschke, who\u2019s an outstanding coach, will get them back on track. They\u2019ve got a little bit of a break now, but it\u2019s exciting to see where that team can go because it\u2019s chock full of amazing players.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sixers will next face the Thunder in a Sydney derby at Drummoyne Oval on Saturday, with the first ball scheduled for 7.10pm AEDT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sydney Sixers coach Matthew Mott has endorsed Ash Gardner\u2019s credentials as Australia\u2019s next cricket captain as the national…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-283457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}