The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is reportedly taking a big decision for the betterment of its women’s cricket team keeping in mind the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup.
It is reported that to get the team in shape for the high-profile event, where the cricketers will have to control their nerves, the ECB will send the team to train with the British Army. Training with the Army will help the team prepare mentally and physically for the Women’s T20 World Cup.
England women’s cricket team will train with the British Army
Due to training plans with the British Army, the team will not participate in this weekend’s round of home matches. The management told the BBC that the 15-man England cricket team will spend the weekend on a program focused on “decision-making, flexibility and delivering high performance when pressure increases”.
BBC reported in its latest report that the location of the special camp has not been disclosed. The camp will be held ahead of the women’s team’s first assignment of the summer, which will be against New Zealand.
According to the report, the trip to an undisclosed location in the UK is coming a week before the team’s first international match of the summer – the first of three one-day internationals against New Zealand on Sunday, May 10.
Why did the ECB decide to hold a special camp?
“Three T20 matches against the White Ferns will be played before another three T20 matches against India. England’s World Cup campaign begins against Sri Lanka on June 12. We are extremely fortunate to be able to send our newly selected World Cup squad to one of the best high-performance environments in the world,” said Claire Connor, England and Wales Cricket Board’s managing director of women’s cricket.
“I’m confident that what the players will experience and learn over the next few days will be invaluable in terms of performing in what will undoubtedly be some moments of pressure at the home World Cup,” he said.
Men’s cricket team earlier trained with the army
Training with the army is nothing new in the history of the England cricket team. In 2010–11, before the Ashes Test series, the men’s cricket team went to a five-day army bootcamp in the German forest.
The camp and rigorous training with the army proved fruitful and England defeated Australia 3–1 in the 5-match Test series. It was reported that James Anderson broke his ankle during a boxing match during the special camp. It was believed that, despite some difficulties and challenging obstacles, the training brought members closer to each other, which served to improve team relationships.
Before the 2013–14 Ashes, the board again made the same arrangement. However, the plan did not work out as planned as Australia defeated the Three Lions 5–0. Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson was at his peak with 37 wickets.
“At the event, taking place in the Staffordshire countryside, the England team found themselves immersed in a role-play scenario in which they were tasked with stopping a mock crime. After being given professional surveillance training, players were divided into three groups and set different tasks to solve the case, but they did not set up camp, instead staying overnight in a local hotel.” The Guardian provided a glimpse of a specially organized training camp in 2013.
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