NEW DELHI: The Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 is just around the corner, and excitement is building up worldwide for this much-anticipated cricketing spectacle. Six-time champions Australia enter the tournament brimming with confidence and are considered firm favourites to defend their title.
India, meanwhile, would like to build up on the fiery start to their World Cup campaign as they beat West Indies and South Africa in convincing fashion in the warm-up fixtures.The Harmanpreet Kaur-led unit is placed in a stiff group which also features Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, and there are countless possibilities of upsets during the multi-nation event.
An avid women’s cricket enthusiast Georgie Heath, a Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC, owners of Lord’s Cricket Ground) Foundation ambassador who has been all over the world covering women’s cricket from the best seat in the commentary boxes, had a candid chat with TimesofIndia.com on sidelines of Legends of Cricket.
Edited excerpts:
Q) Initially, the venue for the T20 World Cup was Bangladesh. Then, it was shifted to the UAE. Do you think that it would make any change to the strategies that teams were making before?
I think it’s an interesting one because they changed it (the host) before the teams were announced, so that was a good step in the first place. The team that I know very well, the England side, wanted to wait until there was confirmation over where it would be.
But I think on the selection side, it has had a little bit of an impact, because if you look at a team like England, they’ve obviously gone pretty all out and out with a pretty spin-heavy attack, and they only got one out-and-out pacer in Lauren Bell, whereas you look at the Australians, and they have gone a little bit more seam-heavy than England.
So I think teams are sort of eyeing it up differently. But I do think it will make a difference because it’s not going to be as much of a turning situation as it would have been in Bangladesh.
But having said that, it is still, obviously, very hot all year round. It’s going to turn a lot more than it does somewhere like England and perhaps Australia. So I think it’s been quite a headache for selectors and teams to look at their selection and then really think how they’re going to curate that for the change in venue.
I think something else that has really impacted it is perhaps the sort of publicity around it. Somewhere like Bangladesh, it would have been a really proud moment for them to be able to host it and for their fans to be able to get involved and get behind their side. And it’s something that really impacts the Bangladesh team. Whereas moving to Dubai and Sharjah, it’s not going to have quite the same kind of crowd factor or the excitement factor.
And I think that’s going to be really difficult because we saw last year in South Africa, it just had such an incredible following, the Women’s T20 World Cup coming off the back of the Under-19 World Cup there. And also, obviously, the one we saw back at the MCG (during the India vs Australia Women’s T20 World Cup final in 2020) when we sold out all those records in that crowd.
So I think that the one thing that I’m almost sad about with this change of venue is the fact that it’s not going to have that sort of pizzazz that you might hope a women’s tournament would and should have in 2024.
Q) UAE would be more friendly to the batters…
I definitely think there’s going to be more attacking batting involved. I think we’re going to see much higher scores than we would have seen in Bangladesh. I think it was going to be more of a bowler’s game in Bangladesh, whereas this is going to be weighted slightly more towards the batting side.
You’ve got some really explosive batters as part of this World Cup. Not just from your big dogs like your England, Australia, and India. You’ve got the likes of Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama in Sri Lanka. So there are some really impressive batters in there. And I think for them, they probably wouldn’t have been too upset by the fact that it’s moving to somewhere that is slightly more batter friendly.
Q) Who are looking like the favourites to win this World Cup?
Oh, it’s such a boring answer because I still think, as much as it pains me to say as an English person, that Australia are still the favourites. They’ve just got such a nicely balanced side and to be able to leave out people like Jess Jonassen and Amanda-Jade Wellington but still have the incredible talent they’ve got in there.
Even without Meg Lanning these days, they are such a well-balanced side. They’re well captained by Alyssa Healey. We know what she can do, especially under the pressure of a World Cup. We all saw her back in New Zealand in the 2022 World Cup final against England. So she’s leading the side out. And they’ve still got Elise Perry, who seems to have been haunting anyone that isn’t Australia for forever in a day. So they’ve got such a well-balanced side, but I think there are going to be teams that do give them a push.
England obviously didn’t quite perform like they might have hoped they would in that warm-up match getting quite convincingly beaten (by Australia). But I think we’re in for a few surprises. Maybe it won’t be Australia that are on the end of them, but there are going to be a few teams who come out really fighting and give a few surprises. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sri Lanka booked themselves a spot in that semi-final, having seen quite a lot of them lately.
Obviously, they came out on top in that Asia Cup just a few months ago. I then saw them in Ireland playing Ireland after that. And they have got a very strong side. They’ve got some really good bowlers in there and the likes of Harshitha and Chamari up the top with the bat as well are really impressive.
Q) India have recently gone very close to some titles, yet they were so far, what do you think has been the issue?
Winning becomes a habit. And also failing to win becomes a habit. So with India, they sort of get themselves into the right position and then fail at that final hurdle, whereas Australia know even when they get themselves into that pressure situation, they know how to win from those situations. And that’s something where India have really struggled.
In 2017, they almost had their name etched on that trophy at Lord’s, and they still managed to lose from that situation. Yes, there was some incredible bowling from Anya Shrubsole, but it was in their grasp and they still didn’t quite get over that line. There are ten hurdles, then you can’t just do nine of them; you’ve got to do that final one.
So I think for them, it’s about just finding that last push. And once you start winning, it becomes such a habit and you get into that mentality of knowing that it’s okay, we’re in this situation, we can come back from this.
England went over there (to India) at the end of last year, and they really dominated in that white ball in the T20Is. Yes, India came out firing and absolutely annihilated England in the Test match. But when it comes to T20 cricket, they just haven’t quite got that edge at the moment.
It is improving because obviously, we’ve got things like the WPL and players getting to be part of these really competitive tournament situations even more than they did before. But they do just seem to keep failing at the last hurdle.
For example, that Asia Cup just a few months ago, they got themselves there (in Sri Lanka). Everyone had basically written their name on the trophy before it started and then they got actually quite well and truly beaten (by Sri Lanka) in the final. So it’s about trying to find that winning habit and just that last push, the last ingredient. You can make a cake, but if you haven’t got the flour in there, then it’s not going to rise.
Q) Where do you see India finish this time in the world?
I would say that to get to the final, India have to fire on all cylinders and also pull something quite incredible out of the bag. They have got a good side, but there’s just something missing and I’m just not quite sure what it is yet.
If Deepti flies like she can, she is going to have a real impact, but they just can’t lose their heads. We know Harmanpreet can lose her head sometimes, and she’s got to lead from the front and really guide this team. They’ve got such experience and talent in that side. But for me, I see India going out in the semi-final.
Q) If we talk about the lesser-known stars, who would be those players to watch out for?
Everyone has to keep an eye out for and someone I actually know really well is Kathryn Bryce. She is obviously captaining that Scotland side, and she really has absolutely shone for Scotland for such a long time now.
She was picked up in the WPL this year, and she impressed there. But I hate to use the word associate nations, but that’s what they’re known as. But she is a real star all-rounder. She leads from the front. When Scotland are in trouble, she’s the kind of person that they can turn to. They can thank her a lot for qualifying, even for this World Cup. They beat Ireland in that semi-final, which few saw coming. Yes, they then lost to Sri Lanka in the final. But she’s one that I would say really keep your eye on, whether it is just handy runs slightly lower down the order or the way she can get the ball to move. I think she’s going to be a real key player for Scotland and she’ll be a really interesting one to keep an eye out for.
Q) Talking about overall sporting rivalry, we all know how big India vs Pakistan is. What do you think Pakistan are lacking at the moment?
At the moment, Pakistan can’t quite find the formula that they want. They’ve had a few captains in and out. They’ve now got a new, fresh, very young captain in Fatima Sana, which I think is really exciting, the idea of having a young captain.
But she doesn’t have that experience. She’s a very quietly spoken and lovely player and girl, a really nice human. But I don’t know if she quite has that killer instinct you want as a captain, to lead a side, especially someone like Pakistan, who have struggled as of late.
They got well and truly beaten by England earlier this summer. At one point, they had England 35/3 and then they (Pakistan) still got absolutely destroyed there. So they do have their flashes of brilliance, but they just haven’t got a full unit that comes together and works together, whereas India are such a well-oiled machine. They know that when someone doesn’t perform against Pakistan, they’ve got someone else who’ll come up through and I think they’ve got that sort of killer instinct that I think a few of the Pakistan players are perhaps missing a little bit.
There are some really exciting talents in there. You’ve obviously got the likes of Diana Baig, who can change a game with some incredible piece of work in the field or take an incredible catch. And then Aliya Riaz with the bat as well. Nida Dar obviously in there. You talk about giving 110%, and I think that’s something they really need to do because as I said before, also they just have got into this losing habit, especially against the likes of India.
Q) You have seen the England squad very closely. What are England’s chances this time?
Obviously, as an English person, I hope they could make the final. England have got a pretty good-looking side, but having watched them or kept up with what they were doing in that warm-up game against Australia, no one other than Alice Capsey, top scorer with 40 runs, the problem that England have that they get themselves in and get themselves out.
But when they fire on their day, they really can be a real force to be reckoned with. The twins of Sophie Ecclestone and Sarah Glenn are going to be so important for England in this tournament.
Obviously, Sophie Ecclestone, I mean, she could bowl on a carpet and probably get anyone out. She’s just an absolute world-class game-changer. But Sarah Glenn, when she’s on form, bowling her leg spin, it’s just incredible. And actually, a lot of the England players performed really well this summer in The Hundred, which I think is something that’s going to be really important coming into this tournament because they’ve got that experience under their belt, the recent experience and confidence coming off that. Someone like Heather Knight as well, she was in great form in The Hundred. So they’re coming into it with a lot of players in good form. They gel really well as a team. That’s something so important, especially when you’re touring. If Danni Wyatt and Maia Bouchier can fire at the top and set a really good foundation for England, they’re going to be a very difficult side to outscore.
Q) Who are your biggest dark horses in the tournament?
Sri Lanka are quite a dark horse. West Indies are sort of riding even more under. So if I’m gonna have a dark horse that’s Sri Lanka. Obviously, I’ve spoken about how impressive they have been as of late and sort of flying under the radar as well, and they haven’t got as well-established a women’s structure.
Something like the WPL coming through for them, it’s even more impressive what they’re achieving as a side. But then the West Indies, they’re one of those teams. They just seem to know how to turn up when they turn it up. And if basically for the West Indies, if Hayley Matthews fires, they’ll do well. And if she doesn’t, they’re going to have a red one.
