Heat will be a deciding factor in Under-19 Women’s Tri-Nation

Australia Under-19 Captains Lucy Hamilton and Amy Smith, England Under-19 Captain Josie Groves and Sri Lanka Under-19 Captain Manudi Nanayakkara at yesterday’s virtual media conference

The current heat wave that is making life difficult for everyone in the country has not escaped the three teams participating in the Under-19 Women’s Tri-Nation Series in one of the hottest spots of the region Hambantota where Sri Lanka play Australia in the curtain-raiser today.

England Under-19 Captain Josie Groves said, “It’s very overwhelming. We had a challenging couple of days training in the heat. We got a great sports science and medicine team to deal with it. But it’s definitely going to be challenging. It’s a massive challenge, but if we prepare well and try to minimize the impact of the heat we will be in a good position to overcome it.”

Australia Under-19 skippers Lucy Hamilton and Amie Smith were also of the same view and said, “It’s a great challenge but we got a great staff around us to support us in that area keeping us hydrated and running the recoveries after the game and at training. It’s an age where Australian cricketers are fully fit and prepared to handle it.”

“We haven’t had any specific training for Sri Lanka. We had a few camps to pick the team but besides that training and getting ready and being confident in our game, so that when we get here we can adapt to the conditions.”

“The conditions are different from Australia but we are getting used to that. We can still play cricket to the best of our ability and put on a great match. It’s a great opportunity for young girl cricketers to go out there and learn about their game and see where that goes in. It’s an early opportunity to play in different countries.”

Host Sri Lanka should be the least affected by the heat but their Under-19 Captain Manudi Nanayakkara said, “We are also not used to the conditions here in Hambantota, it is a bit hot and it won’t be easy for us either.”

Having recently won the Under-19 Tri-Series in Bangladesh, Manudi said that the team was in good shape and if the players can maintain the same form shown in the tournament they can do well.

“We finished on a high in Bangladesh winning the tournament. With that confidence we can do well against these two good cricket playing nations. In preparation for this tournament we had the NSL Under-19 tournament and we played a lot of practice matches against boys’ teams and the development squad. The experience we have gained from these matches should help us in the matches ahead,” said Manudi. – (ST)