New coach keen to improve Lewas for cup qualifier

PAPUA New Guinea women’s cricket squad yesterday kicked off their preparations for the World Cup Qualifier in September following the arrival of head coach Kath Hempenstall from Australia on Wednesday.
Hempenstall wasted no time getting the Lewas started with batting and bowling sessions at Amini Park following two weeks of strength and conditioning training under assistant coach Mahuru Dai.
She told The National yesterday that all the work from now till September would be focused on their T20 qualifier in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“The last tour was about getting to know the girls and understanding how they play cricket and approach the game so it was really good to see them play,” Hempenstall said.
“Now that I’m here with the team, we can work on a few more specific things around their game.
“Everything we do will be in preparation for our World Cup qualifier in Dubai for the 2023 Twenty-20 World Cup.
“That’s our most important tournament for the year.”
When asked about the specific areas she would be working on with the team, Hempenstall said batting would be a priority area.
“The main takeaway is scoring runs and batting well,” she said.
“We just need to find a way to find another maybe 20 or 30 runs in our T20 innings. I think their bowling skillset is really good although there’s a couple of little things that we’ll work towards strategy but their overall bowling skills is pretty good.
“In terms of batting we just need to find a way to score an extra 20 or 30 runs particularly against the spinners.
“I think that would be a big development for us.
“We’ve got the 17 best players in PNG and we’re putting all our energy into making them the best cricketers they can be.”