England‘s ladies cricket workforce skipper Heather Knight is bracing for quieter-than-expected stadiums on the Ladies’s T20 World Cup 2024, following the match’s late venue shift from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Initially set to happen in Bangladesh, the match was moved as a consequence of ongoing civil unrest within the area. Whereas the England squad stays assured, the workforce anticipates totally different on-field circumstances and decrease crowd attendances in Dubai and Sharjah.
Adapting to empty stands
Knight acknowledged the anticipated distinction in crowd turnout between Bangladesh and the UAE. Reflecting on their previous expertise through the 2014 World Cup in Bangladesh, she highlighted the passionate fan assist they’d acquired, significantly in Sylhet.
“It’s going to be a bit totally different. There positively would’ve been greater crowds in Bangladesh,” Knight mentioned, including that the change is one thing the workforce might want to mentally put together for.
With England scheduled to play three of their group-stage matches on the Sharjah Cricket Stadium and their closing group fixture on the Dubai Worldwide Stadium, the absence of huge crowds may very well be a brand new problem for the workforce.
“Some individuals thrive off the noise and the vitality from the group… However it’s what it’s, and clearly security and issues like which are most likely crucial issues,” Knight emphasised.
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Focus shifts to circumstances within the UAE
Regardless of the challenges off the sphere, Knight expressed confidence in England’s preparations. The squad has spent the previous 18 months planning for a spin-heavy technique that was tailor-made for the circumstances in Bangladesh. Nonetheless, the workforce is now adjusting to the brand new setting within the UAE, which might supply barely totally different circumstances.
“It’s clearly a disgrace for the Bangladesh workforce that they’re not going to have a house World Cup. However I believe it’s most likely the best choice… the circumstances will probably be barely totally different, however not vastly,” Knight mentioned, backing the ICC’s choice to maneuver the match.
Coaching camp in Abu Dhabi
To mitigate the results of the venue change, England will embark on a three-week coaching camp in Abu Dhabi, beginning on September 13, properly forward of their opening World Cup match. The coaching camp will assist the workforce adapt to the circumstances within the UAE, which have not often hosted ladies’s T20I matches. Sharjah, for instance, has solely staged 10 ladies’s T20Is, with the newest match held in 2017, whereas Dubai has hosted simply 5.
Given the restricted ladies’s cricket knowledge from the UAE, England are counting on statistics from males’s matches to tell their methods.
“There’s clearly not been an enormous quantity of ladies’s cricket there, so that you’re going off males’s stats,” Knight acknowledged, highlighting the workforce’s cautious method to not over-plan primarily based on unfamiliar circumstances.
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This text was first printed at WomenCricket.com, a Cricket Instances firm.
