Pressure on New Zealand women for places on tour

Lynn McConnell

April 23, 2002

New Zealand women's cricket hopefuls will have their last chance to impress for a place in the team to tour the Netherlands, Ireland and England in June and July when a training camp will be held at the High Performance Centre at Lincoln University, starting on Anzac Day.

Eighteen players have been asked to take part in the four-day camp but four will miss out when the touring team is named on May 1.

The squad is: Nicola Browne (Northern Districts), Anna Corbin (Wellington), Ingrid Cronin-Knight (Auckland), Emily Drumm (Auckland), Maria Fahey (Canterbury), Paula Flannery (Canterbury), Fiona Fraser (Canterbury), Frances King (Wellington), Michelle Lynch (Auckland), Sara McGlashan (Central Districts), Aimee Mason (Central Districts), Louise Milliken (Northern Districts), Nicola Payne (Canterbury), Kate Pulford (Central Districts), Rachel Pullar (Otago), Kathryn Ramel (Auckland), Rebecca Rolls (Auckland), Haidee Tiffen (Canterbury).

The tour is an important step for New Zealand who missed good grooming time when their tour of India was cancelled last November. That tour was seen as an important bridge between the side that won the CricInfo Women's World Cup in 2000 and the side to defend the title in South Africa in 2005.

Healthy competition for the final places in the squad is expected.

The TelstraClear White Ferns will play their first match in Europe, against the Netherlands on June 25.

They will then play two more matches against the Netherlands, followed by three against Ireland before competing in a tri-series in England against India and England.

All the matches on tour are One-Day Internationals.

"This is a fantastic opportunity, particularly for those players who haven't toured before, to experience the demands of international touring," selection convener Lesley Murdoch said.

"It's a fairly hectic schedule and the players will have to be prepared mentally and physically for an intense month of cricket where they are required to play three or four matches every week."

The most important matches on the tour will be those in the tri-series with England looking to show improvement under the former coach of the Australians, John Harmer, and India looking to show they had learned the lessons of Lincoln 2000.

"The Netherlands and Ireland are both developing nations in terms of women's international cricket, but neither can be taken lightly as both will have home crowd support and conditions in their favour," Murdoch said.

"The Indian and England teams are both strong and we will have to be at our best if we are to achieve our ultimate objective of winning the tri-series in England."

The itinerary is:

In the Netherlands: June 25 (Tuesday): 1st ODI v the Netherlands at Utrecht (venue tbc); June 26 (Wednesday): 2nd ODI v the Netherlands at Utrecht (venue tbc); June 28 (Friday): 3rd ODI v the Netherlands at Utrecht (venue tbc).

In Ireland: July 1 (Monday): 1st ODI v Ireland at Clontarf, Dublin; July 3 (Wednesday): 2nd ODI v Ireland at Malahide, Dublin; July 6 (Saturday): 3rd ODI v Ireland at Dublin (venue tbc).

In England: July 11 (Thursday): Tri-Series ODI v India at Grainville Cricket Club, Jersey; July 12 (Friday) Tri-Series ODI v England at Grainville Cricket Club, Jersey; July 16 (Tuesday): Tri-Series ODI v England at Racecourse Cricket Ground, Durham; July 17 (Wednesday): Tri-Series ODI v India at Racecourse Cricket Ground, Durham; July 20 (Saturday): Tri-Series Final at Racecourse Cricket Ground, Durham.

© Cricinfo

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New Zealand Women tour of Ireland

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