Associates eager to shine in qualifier spotlight

“I’m not going to lie, I’m slightly nervous,” laughed Laura Delany. The Ireland Women captain was sharing the stage with some greats of the women’s game, a stone’s throw from Colombo’s iconic Galle Face Green, where Sri Lanka had celebrated its Independence Day a couple of days before, fronting up to a room full of press-persons and blinding camera flashes.

Rumana Ahmed, the Bangladesh skipper, knew exactly how she felt. As did Papua New Guinea’s Pauke Siaka.

Sornnarin Tippoch, the Thailand captain, said she had grown up watching or hearing about the likes of India and Pakistan play. “And now we’re standing and playing with them! I cannot talk too much, but I’m very happy.”

The ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier will also be the first time Tippoch’s side will ever play a 50-over game.

Bangladesh and Ireland, both One-Day International sides, have had a taste of the big league in recent years thanks to their participation in ICC tournaments and their boards’ initiatives in organising bilateral tours with top opposition. But for some of the other Associate teams participating in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in Colombo, the experience – of featuring in a global event with ten teams, of Sri Lankan culture, of being in the spotlight, of even playing a one-dayer – is an unfamiliar one.

“We play a lot of T20s back home. It’s a big challenge for us, to play 50 overs,” said Siaka on Monday (February 6), the eve of the tournament opener.

Tippoch offered an idea of just how big a leap playing one-day cricket would be in her team’s development. The Asia qualifiers, during which they beat Nepal, China and Hong Kong, to make it to this event too was a 20-over affair. “Our team is very excited for this tournament because it’s the first time for us in 50 overs,” she said. “We are aiming for the Super Six (round, which ensures ODI status). ODI status is very important to us. We have played against big teams in the Asia Cup, and now we continue that. We’ll have more experience in playing big teams.”

“One of the challenges is patience,” said Sharne Mayers, the Zimbabwe captain, of the adjustment they needed to quickly make in a format where consistency is important. While her side too mainly plays T20s, taking on the South Africa emerging side in Harare, and Northern Provinces and Gauteng on a return tour gave them vital 50-over match-time in the run-up to this tournament. “Patience is something we have worked on by keeping our wickets. We went back home, worked on a few things and now we are here, very positive and very excited.”

Scotland, who balance their cricket with full-time jobs and university classes, too have been focusing on fitness, crease occupation and the mental aspects of spending more time on the field as they attempt to earn ODI status for the nation for the first time in their history.

While their improved Twenty20 game has meant a promotion to Division 2 of England’s domestic NatWest T20, their participation in the Royal London Women's One-Day Cup has helped hone their game in the longer format. “In the past year, we’ve probably been more T20 focused, so as a squad that’s been a big challenge making that change – tactically and just awareness of the game,” said Abbi Aitken, the Scotland captain.

“We don’t often play against the likes of teams we are going up against, so that again is a bit of the unknown. We do watch women’s cricket regularly, but to actually come up against them, you never really know till you really play them. The more often we get these opportunities, the better we can see what the standard is we need to be at.”

Aitken believes her team “thoroughly deserves” their place in the tournament. “The opportunity hasn’t come around often for us in the past, so we’re going to try and grab it with both hands, to showcase what talent we have in Scotland and why we deserve to be here.”

Their colleagues from the top eight sides, who play the Women's Championship, have been encouraging. “Watching Ireland, Scotland and Thailand grow, it is very positive, it’s very encouraging, we are very glad,” said Sana Mir, the Pakistan captain. “Especially, Thailand was an associate nation and we did not see them playing very often, apart from Asia Cup. Having them in the ICC tournament is very pleasing for us and we are very glad that cricket is growing there as well.”

In a World Cup year, where the focus is on cricket’s middle child, there will be little place for teams to hide if they aren’t on top of their 50-over game. The Associates, for their part, are ready. Said Tippoch: “We want to do more, we want to practise, we want to play at that level.”