Hard-nosed approach

Press, 27 April 1984, Page 15

Hard-nosed approach

If any member of the New Zealand women’s cricket squad was suffering occasional aches and pains after attending a training camp in Christchurch over the Easter period, she could take comfort in that it was for a good cause. The team will leave in early July for a three-test tour of England, the first since 1966, and no effort has been spared in preparation. The manager, Pat McKelvey, and Dayle Hadlee, have put the team through its paces over five days of intensive training at the indoor wicket at Hagley Oval. According to Hadlee, the sessions have been devoted to four main aspects — skills, fitness, application, and knowledge. Each player is solely responsible for becoming as fit as possible, but Hadlee and McKelvey have had much to do with

By

JANE DAVIDSON

perfecting technique and instilling a confident attitude in the team. The side’s strongest point is likely to be the batting, particularly with players of the calibre of its captain, Debbie Hockley, her Canterbury team-mates, Nicki Turner and Ann McKenna, and Jeanette Dunning, of North Shore. However, by the time the team plays its first match on June 16, the bowling should be on a par. Sue Brown, who has topped the national averages for the last half-dozen seasons, will open the attack from one end, but there will be plenty

of competition to see who takes the ball from the opposite end. Rosemary and Liz Signal, Manawatu’s cricketing twins, are candidates for

the other position, while the spin bowling will rest mainly with Sue Rattray of Canterbury. Fielding is one of the team’s strengths, and any reduction in the number of runs the side has to chase will be welcome. This side will also be one of the fittest to leave these

shores, an asset when it comes to quick run scoring. Each team member was tested during the first day of training, and as is customary with most touring sides now, individual programmes updated. It would perhaps be asking too much for a win in the first test at Headingly, the scene of the first win on English soil by the New Zealand men’s team last August, but this side should hold its own.