West Indies women head coach Shane Deitz on South Africa T20 opener

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West Indies women head coach Shane Deitz on South Africa T20 opener  03/10/2024  Dubai International Stadium, Dubai

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Nick Maitland, Media Manager for the West Indies Women.

00:04I'm here with Head Coach Shane Dietz ahead of the game against South Africa tomorrow afternoon.

00:11I'll just ask Coach Dietz to give his initial thoughts on the game before we open up for questions.

00:18I think it's an exciting opportunity. We've been here for a few weeks training hard,

00:22so we really want the games to hurry up because we've had enough training and enough practice matches.

00:27We're just keen to get the games underway. It's a great opportunity against a really good side,

00:32South Africa, to hopefully put a good show on for the spectators and fans following back home.

00:39Hi, Coach. I think it's fair to say that the biggest talking point in West Indies' build-up to the World Cup

00:46has been the return of Deandra Dutton. We all know what a force she is in T20 cricket, especially.

00:53From a team's perspective, coming into a World Cup with the Dark Horses tag,

00:59how important is it to have one very senior statesman back in the squad with the young girls,

01:07especially in a neutral place like this?

01:09Yeah, unbelievable to have Deandra back. She's fitted in brilliantly.

01:14Just working with her first-hand, see the power she's got when she's batting and her fielding is unbelievable.

01:21She brings a great dynamic to our team and also for the fans watching, she's an entertainer,

01:26so it's great to have her around. Obviously, her experience playing cricket around the world

01:30for the younger girls like Munisah and James, who are just starting their careers,

01:36to have another great senior player in the team is brilliant. It's been great working with her

01:42and she's raring to go, really looking forward to it. She's obviously missed a bit of time,

01:47so she's loving being back with the West Indies and we're loving having her back.

01:51Just another one from me. You mentioned that you've been here since at least a couple of weeks now

01:56and we saw that you guys indulged in a very, very unofficial warm-up

02:02before the official warm-up game with the Scottish team. How did that come about?

02:07Was it like an on-the-spot thing, let's just play games instead of doing a lot of practice in the night?

02:13How did it work out or was it already planned?

02:16Yeah, that was planned a long time ago, even when we were going to Bangladesh.

02:20We go through a local company, Sports Journeys, who work and help arrange our camps here,

02:26along with Scotland. They arrange camps for Scotland too.

02:30So just through them, they put us together and it was fantastic to get some extra games in.

02:37Obviously, it was planned months and months ago, so it's lucky the World Cup is here.

02:41Unlucky for not going to Bangladesh, but it's great here.

02:44It was good for our prep and I'm sure Scotland, their first World Cup,

02:48it's good for them to have a bit of a hit out against us and get ready for the practice matches.

02:54Now, obviously, the World Cup is starting and they're probably just kicked off right now.

02:58So good luck, Scotland. I hope they go well and we look forward to playing them in a couple of days as well.

03:03I hope that intel helps them being in the same group.

03:08Hi, Coach. Staying on Dotton, can you just take us through what those conversations were like with her

03:16when she just got back? What were maybe her first couple of training sessions with the team looking like?

03:21Was there anything specific that you were looking to work with her on, particularly?

03:25Yeah, good question, because obviously a team has its own culture and way of doing things

03:30and we've instilled a new culture with very much a player-driven culture run by a leadership group.

03:36So it was for that leadership group to take responsibility of transitioning her

03:41and not just her, other new players into the squad and how we're doing things on and off the field.

03:47But obviously she's an experienced player, so she knows what to do and she's a complete professional.

03:51We had a camp in Antigua at the start of August, which was her first time back with the team,

03:56and then she went to the WCPL after that.

03:59So that camp in August, we had some training, obviously, some meetings,

04:03and it was pretty much she knows what to do. She's a big girl.

04:07She's been around, very experienced and very professional.

04:11So the transition was real easy and I think everyone's glad to get her back in the team

04:17and help with us win games.

04:19Perfect. I want to ask you about Hayley as well, because over the last maybe year, year and a half,

04:24she's become that one person who can single-handedly turn games for you with bat and ball.

04:28What are your conversations with her like?

04:30How is she handling the pressure of being that one player everyone's going to try and dismiss

04:34or try and be a little safe against?

04:36How is that maybe working on her mind as a player first and then a captain next?

04:40I think she relishes being that person in the team.

04:43She loves taking all the responsibilities. She wants to do everything.

04:46So I can't really stop her doing anything or the conversations.

04:50And she's pretty level-headed for her age.

04:53She's been around a long time, obviously, played a lot of cricket.

04:56So she understands she's the one they're going to target and they've got to get out and it's the big wicket.

05:02But I think she just loves that challenge.

05:04She wouldn't have it any other way and she's so used to it now.

05:07Nothing really stresses her out.

05:11She seems so relaxed all the time and enjoys the game.

05:14We try to keep a real relaxed atmosphere so she has to worry about the next ball

05:18and that's pretty much what she does, ball by ball.

05:21And then leads the captaincy and obviously bowling.

05:24She bowls big overs too, which she wants to do.

05:26She wants to be the girl under pressure all the time.

05:29That's when she's at her best, I think.

05:31Perfect. And just last one from me.

05:32There are a couple of senior players in the team as well.

05:34You have Stefani and you have all of her experience also at your disposal.

05:38What is it like for you in that leadership group?

05:40How does that work, just the seniors getting together, figuring out how the day-to-day stuff can work

05:44or giving people confidence?

05:45How do you all just plot that and go ahead with the team?

05:48Yeah, as I said, most of those girls have been around a long time

05:51so they know what to do and how they want to run things.

05:54I don't want to come in and change what's worked in the past

05:57and they know what hasn't worked so they put their suggestions.

06:01And to me, we work as a team because they're the ones who have to go out in the field

06:05so they've got to make the decisions on the field.

06:07So it's good they have some freedom to be able to have some input off the field as well.

06:11And we work together to make sure it all runs smoothly.

06:14The most important people here are the players

06:17so my job and the other staff's job is to make sure they get everything they need

06:21so they're well prepared, ready to play each tour, each game and obviously this World Cup.

06:27And they're definitely well prepared and we're probably in the best space I've seen since I've been in the job.

06:33So everything so far has gone to plan.

06:35Obviously, every team is probably similar so when we get out there, hopefully the best team wins.

06:42Coming from that experience side, there is also many youngsters in the team

06:47who have gone through that U19 World Cup experience as well.

06:50Especially Zaida, looking at how she has grown back when she went to India to play the development squad

06:56to now playing it to the senior squad.

06:58How do you look at their growth as such of all these young players?

07:04And second to that is what made the team management go with these youngsters

07:10because there are certainly a good number of young players in your team.

07:14So to fast-track them into the senior side immediately after they played the U19 World Cup?

07:21I think the U19 World Cup is really great for women's cricket

07:24and it's going to help a lot of countries who haven't got really very strong,

07:30young or high-performance programmers for girls.

07:32It's making countries and definitely here in the Caribbean and other places I've worked

07:39forcing a really strategic plan for girls' youth cricket

07:45and then they get that chance to go to a World Cup and experience a World Cup

07:48before they come and get a senior World Cup.

07:50So that's a great experience for them.

07:52You mentioned Zaida and obviously Ashmini Munnasar as well.

07:55They're young players coming through but super talented

07:59and you've got to get a mix of youth and experience because they're the next generation.

08:03So they've got to get some opportunities with our senior players

08:07and learn from the Stefanis and D'Andreas and Hayleys before they move on.

08:13So they can then carry the baton on for the future

08:17and then their job is to bring the next generation after them on.

08:20So it's really important you have that mix of experience and youth.

08:23But in their own right, they deserve to be in the team

08:26just on their ability and their performances.

08:29I'm expecting big things from our youngsters to really impress

08:34and obviously they're not going to be in the roles of the Hayley Matthews and that

08:39but they've got smaller roles to play which are as important

08:42because in T20 cricket it's going to take 15 players to have a successful World Cup.

08:48Everyone's got to contribute whether it's one over here or 10 runs off four balls here.

08:52That could be the difference in winning and losing in such a tournament

08:55where it's going to be very competitive.

08:57So those young girls have got a real important role to play

09:00and they're on their journey for their future cricket

09:03which is great to see a young person come into the team and experience all these new things

09:07and see their eyes light up and their enthusiasm every day rubs off on the older players too.

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