Australian Hempenstall appointed as Lewas coach

NEWLY-RETIRED Australian cricketer Kath Hempenstall has been appointed as the head coach of the national women’s cricket team, the Kumul Petroleum Papua New Guinea Lewas.
Hempenstall, who has over a decade of experience, played for Perth Scorchers in the Women’s Big Bash League before her retirement.
She was awarded by the Australian Cricketers Association, the Legacy Award in Western Australia 2019-2020.
The 33-year-old is an experienced coach, having coached and assistant coached at clubs in Victoria and Perth, Australia.
She is looking forward to working more closely with the Cricket PNG coaching staff and the Lewas.
Based in Australia, she is working with her team on the ground on progressive work for the women’s team, saying their home training matches are crucial and a chance for them to assess themselves.
As the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic continues to impact the world, it is quite the same for Hempenstall and the Lewas.
This has caused cancellations and postponements of home matches for the Lewas squad, and has also kept Hempenstall in Australia and will mean she will likely first meet the team in person in Zimbabwe.
However, she has already met the team via Zoom and it was, as she said, a great opportunity to put faces to names.
As preparations for final selections will be done in Port Moresby with only four weeks to go, Hempenstall continues to work alongside the PNG team.
After the final team for the Kumul Petroleum PNG Lewas is announced, she will be meeting the team in Zimbabwe for the World Cup qualifiers.
Hempenstall said participating in the qualifiers would be great for the team because it had been quite a while since playing other international teams.
“The Kumul Petroleum PNG Lewas have great potential and the qualifiers in Zimbabwe will be a good time to test the team,” she said.
Amid Covid-19 restrictions and new measures in country, the Lewas continue to train and prepare in compliance.
The Lewas have their sights set on qualifying for the World Cup which will be in New Zealand next year.