Sune Luus column: We couldn’t have asked for better preparation for ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup

After a long wait, the World Cup is finally here. We as a team have been preparing for the last five years, since the 2017 World Cup in England where we fell short in the semi-finals.

In our preparation, we have tried many combinations to find the right fit for this World Cup. After many successful and unsuccessful games and series, we are confident that whoever walks out onto the park on the day can do the job for us. We have a strong squad with a combination of experienced players and a couple of players who will be making their World Cup debut. This is very exciting for us as a team.

We are coming off an extremely good year, and I know that the teams’ confidence is high.

Around the same time in 2020, we played a series against New Zealand on some of the same grounds we will be playing in this tournament and were very successful. I am hoping that the preparation we had on that tour and the knowledge we gained will play a huge role in this tournament.

We have also just played the West Indies at home, where we played a couple of games under lights. I think we’re also one of the few teams who has played the most super overs in ODI’s. We couldn’t have asked for better preparation.

The most important part for us is to not focus too much on our opposition. Every match will be played like a final, therefore it is imperative that we only focus on what we do best and what we can control. In our previous series, this is what worked best for us. We tried to do the basics as best as we could, and the result took care of itself. It is so easy to get caught up in the hype and excitement of a World Cup, but it is going to be important for us to stay in our little bubble and be focused on our goal.

In the past, we have always been seen as the underdogs, but I think we have shown in the past few years that we are a team to be reckoned with. We have shown consistent performances in difficult countries like India and the West Indies. We as a team also had a great T20 World Cup two years ago In Australia and turned some heads.

I hope that we do the same this year, and hopefully reach that final that we’ve been missing out on, on three different occasions.

Content courtesy: ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2020 via Online Media Zone.