Pakistan women cricketers deserve to play Women Big Bash: Australian batting consultant

 

KARACHI: Terming Pakistani female cricketers as ‘heroes’, the Australian batting consultant of Pakistan’s women cricket team, Andy Richards, has said that girls from Pakistan deserve to be playing in leagues like Women Big Bash League.

Talking to media in Karachi, the former Brisbane Heats coach from Australia said that Pakistani girls have already done a lot to be at a place where they’re at the moment.

“You've got athletes that are a force to just to be here, to be where they are right now, these girls are heroes, they have overcome some extraordinary obstacles in this country to play cricket at this level where they are, and to be honest they’re more resilient than people in my country live with,” Richards told media in Karachi.

And this strength, according to Richards, makes Pakistani girls – at least three to four of them – capable of playing in Women Big Bash League.

He said that he previously tried to get some in rosters but it couldn’t happen due to shortage of time.

“You have got three or four girls who are capable of playing in the WBLL or the league in England,” he said with a wish to see a similar sort of league for women in Pakistan such as Women’s PSL.

When asked which girls he think are capable of being noticed by WBLL teams, the Australian named Nida Dar and Javeria Khan along with Bismah Maroof and Aliya Riaz.

“The secret of playing in WBBL is to make sure you have got at least two or three skills Nida Dar has that, she fields really well, she bowls really well and she bats really well and she bowls okay with the left hand as well and the other thing is it that she is reasonably fit, Javeria Khan is another one and she is learning really really well to hit the ball over cover,” he stated.

Talking about batting issues of Pakistan women cricket team, he highlighted that Pakistani girls are more comfortable in playing cover drives than playing a shot with full bat swing and that’s where India has an edge despite not being different in physical strength.

“We have got girls who are 42 kg 45 kg and unfortunately they don’t have bats sponsors so they’re using any bats they can get a hold of so you got a 45 kg kilogram girl using a £2.08 bat, it is very difficult.

Andy further said that Indians are physically not different but they’ve improved their technique. They’ve learnt to play with full bat swing

“We need to teach the girls in this country how to play with the full bat swing and again we're talking about girls who have been playing this game for 10-15 years, and we are asking them to make a big adjustment, they’re doing, it it's just gonna take a little time to do it effectively but we got some good girls,” he said.

“Nida Dar hits the ball well, and Alia Riaz who is probably our strongest girl hits the ball a long way, she is an outstanding cricketer,” he added.

He also said that the country needs to be patient about improvement in Pakistan women Cricket.

“It's a work in progress but that we've made some really good progress here. I need this country to be really patient with them, I am really positive about them,” he said.

“The results of coaching often come four years down the track from what you're doing now and we have tried to change the culture of these girls in the way they play cricket in the last six months, so it's gonna take time for those changes to be effective,” added Andy Richards.