New Zealand women arrive in Sri Lanka

The New Zealand White Ferns arrived in Sri Lanka over the weekend to continue their preparation for the Women’s World Twenty20 Tournament in September.

A squad of 17 players arrived in Colombo for the ten day camp, which will also include five practise matches.

Coach Gary Stead believes the time over there will be pivotal for their World Twenty20 aspirations and says the group have trained hard in the build-up to the trip.

“We have had two four day camps based at Lincoln with a theme around preparing for Sri Lanka,” Stead said.

“Experience of the likely conditions is crucial and I hope it will allow our team to be as well prepared as we have ever been.

“We have tried to replicate some of the conditions we may face here through wearing thermals and ensuring we sweat etc. but nothing beats the experience of actually being here.” Having not played a game since March the team will also get some match practise, with fixtures scheduled against Sri Lanka Women, Australia Women and local men’s teams.

On return the squad will be narrowed down to 14 players. Their first match of the World Twenty20 will be September 26 against the West Indies.