'Players have become heroes for a whole new audience' – Mott on the WT20WC legacy

Australia defended their 2018 title with a resounding 85-run victory over India in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which saw a record 86,174 attendance on International Women's Day on 8 March.

The final's popularity was a culmination of the last couple of years' efforts that went into the development of women's cricket. Mott thanked everyone involved and also spoke about the lasting legacy the tournament has left behind.

"There's been a real drive from cricket community in women's cricket. There are a lot of people who should take credit for that – Belinda Clarke, James Sutherland, Pat Howard. All the former players, who set the foundation for what has been a real celebration. The legacy will live on," he said.

"I got a call from Andrew Symmonds the other day and he said that 'I'm just so proud of this team and the images of the players celebrating and dancing with Katy Perry at the end those will last in the memory of anyone who watched the game and this event for many years to come.

"The players have become heroes for a whole new audience. It's a male audience as well not just female. The next generation will be so much better for that experience we went through," he further added.

Despite the worldwide crisis, Mott said that Cricket Australia's proactive measures have helped the team stay connected. He added that the team's next focus will be the women's 50-over World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in a year's time in New Zealand.

"We have had our debriefs which we have after any major tournament online. We had one-on-one meetings with every player and they went down without a hitch. We feel pretty connected despite the isolation.

"We will be working out how the landscape looks like in two weeks time. And then we will make our plans. The one-day World Cup is now our focus so we will move away from T20. Our players have been sent out training kits so they can train at home. Our rehab players will have contact with physios in their state. We are doing well with the situation in hand. I feel proud of the organisation considering how proactive they have been."

The Australia coach also feels that the current situation will have no effect on the national contracts for the upcoming season. "We are more fortunate than the men's team, we don't have a lot of crossover of players... one-day and T20 are pretty closely aligned.

"We will still be preparing for the one-day World Cup so therefore that would be main focus in our contract thing. We also reward past performances in our contracts. So it will be pretty much business as usual with regards to our contracting process."

Mott also gave an update on injured players Ellyse Perry and Tayla Vlaeminck, who have been said to be recovering well. While Vlaeminck was ruled out just before the T20 World Cup with a stress fracture in her right foot, Perry had sustained a high-grade right hamstring injury in the group game against New Zealand. The current break from cricket has given time to the players to rest and recuperate. Australia also had to cancel their limited overs tour to South Africa, which was supposed to begin on 22 March.

"Ellyse [Perry] had a surgery on her hamstring and it's been going well. She is Sydney at the moment recuperating. The recovery is looking good and our medical staff is happy with it. Tayla [Vlaeminck] is also an important player for us. It's important she takes time to recover. Her prognosis hasn't changed much from the original one. She will obviously take a bit of time. It eases their mind a bit that they are not missing much at the moment as they would have if the team was in South Africa."