Young NZ women's team has plenty to gain from Indian tour

New Zealand's women's side set out on their tour of India today knowing that time is running out for their preparations to defend the Women's World Cup in South Africa in early-2005. The amateur nature of the game has meant that key players Emily Drumm, Rebecca Rolls and Rachel Pullar are not available for the tour.

Drumm especially, as the captain, is a significant loss. However, should those players come back into the selection equation for the World Cup, the exposure those making the tour to India will have achieved will have at least broadened the base of the women's game in New Zealand.

Coach Mike Shrimpton said the tour represented a great opportunity for a number of the players. It was under a new leader, although captain Maia Lewis is not unfamiliar with the role having been the captain before being forced out of the game with an injury that resulted in a knee reconstruction.

Her determination to come back from injury and regain her place in the side for last season's World Series in Christchurch has earned her the respect of the players she is taking to India. "She continues to grow in stature and is very strong and a determined captain. The players have been impressed by her battle to get back to fitness and regain her place in the side. She has enjoyed two good seasons at home," Shrimpton said.

The important thing about the side which is now significantly different from that which won the World Cup in 2000 was that it contained several promising younger players who, with the benefit of quality cricket, could go on to become top players for New Zealand. There was some concern with the top-order batting for the tour but there was strength in the middle-order and said there was a great chance for Michelle Lynch and Kate Pulford to establish themselves at the head of the batting.

"With good performances all of the team will develop self-confidence. One of the bigger problems in the women's game is that the players don't seem to believe enough in themselves," Shrimpton said. The amateur nature of the game also meant that it was much harder nowadays to hold players for long periods.

"People need to get jobs, get an education and with the amount of cricket being played nowadays retention is a problem that rears its head more than in the past. But there are 18-20 players now capable of pushing for 14 positions in the team and that is an improvement," he said.

There is a Test match included on the tour, something that will be a new experience for many of the players in the side and also for Shrimpton. There is also to be a Test against England on next year's tour to England, but Shrimpton feels Test cricket is probably not the best preparation for the World Cup defence.

"If we really want to hone our one-day game, that is the preparation that is best for it. The pace of the game in a Test match is so dramatically different. The intensity of the match diminishes a little and the innovations in the pattern and pace of the one-day game doesn't apply in Tests," Shrimpton said.

The side has emulated the men's team with the type of preparation they have done for the tour, particularly in relation to pitch conditions. He is happy with the quality of spin New Zealand will have from Anna Corbin, Aimee Mason and Rebecca Steele. "We've been working on negating the effects of spin on our batsmen, we expect it will be a series for slow bowlers," he said.

The White Ferns will be travelling to the Pune Cadence Academy which is run by former Black Caps coach David Trist after their arrival at Mumbai. They will have four days to acclimatise there, something that has not always been provided for the women's side, Shrimpton said.

New Zealand's itinerary is:

November:

Sunday 23 - Monday 24 v Warm-up Match at Mumbai

Thursday 27 - Sunday 30 v India Test Match at Hindustan Inks Ground, Vapi

December:

Tuesday 2 v Warm-up Match at Mumbai

Thursday 4 v India 1st ODI at Cricket Club of India Ground, Mumbai

Sunday 7 v India 2nd ODI at Aurangabad Cricket Association Ground, Aurangabad

Wednesday 10 v India 3rd ODI at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Saturday 13 v India 4th ODI at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad

Tuesday 16 v India 5th ODI at Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

The team is:

Maia Lewis (captain - Wellington), Haidee Tiffen (vice-captain - Canterbury), Nicola Browne (Northern Districts), Anna Corbin (Wellington), Maria Fahey (Canterbury), Amanda Green (Wellington), Michelle Lynch (Auckland), Sara McGlashan (Central Districts), Katey Martin (Otago), Aimee Mason (Central Districts), Louise Milliken (Northern Districts), Kate Pulford (Central Districts), Natalee Scripps (Auckland), Rebecca Steele (Canterbury).