In the next two weeks, West Indies will try to
dethrone the world champions on their own territory. Shane Deitz will be in
command for his debut series as the team’s new head coach.
Deitz, a former South Australia wicketkeeper-batsman
who has also coached the women’s teams of Bangladesh and the Netherlands,
assumed his new position last month, although this tour is his first
opportunity to assemble the team.
While the West Indies, who are on their first
bilateral tour of Australia since 2014, struggled in the Ashes, losing both
white-ball series to retain the title with an overall draw, Australia will
start the match as heavy favourites. Following a stretch of 15 straight losses,
they have won their last five Twenty20 Internationals, however the victory
streak ended too late to save them from being eliminated from the T20 World Cup
in South Africa.
Before the first Twenty20 International in Sydney,
Deitz has a straightforward advice for them: Play freely and enjoy yourself.
“Got out there and enjoy it. Enjoy the challenge
and play with freedom,” Deitz told. “We’ve got nothing to lose.
Australia is the world’s best team for a long time now. We’ve got to find an
identity for how we want to play. Using that natural ability and talent and
letting that flow is the way I’m looking to do it. Play with a smile on your
face, have fun.”
On the 2014 trip, Matthews made her ODI debut at age
16 and recorded half century in all three of the matches. Last year, she was
promoted to captain, taking Stafanie Taylor’s place.
“We are definitely up for the challenge,”
she said. “At the end of the day if we are going to compete with the best
teams in the world that’s the brand of cricket we are going to have to play.
Teams are now scoring 160-170 runs in T20 games and don’t reckon anyone’s going
to score or win games by just nudging it around.
“Not only the younger players, but everyone
within the team has to have freedom to go out there and push their boundaries,
push their limits and that’s what we are encouraging.”