By Dominic Farrell
Natalie Sciver hopes England Women can acclimatise to conditions quickly after arriving in Bangladesh for the World Twenty20.
Charlotte Edwards’ squad completed their first training session in Dhaka today and Sciver described the strip in the nets as a “pretty English wicket”.
The all-rounder is prepared for more traditional subcontinental fare when the action gets underway and feels warm-up matches this week against Pakistan and New Zealand carry vital importance.
“We’ve been preparing in Loughborough and Edgbaston, which are indoor facilities and more like an Australian wicket," she told ecb.co.uk.
“It was hard to mimic the lower bounce and things like that in there so I guess it’s just a matter of getting used to it after our first training session and bringing it on to tomorrow.
“I’ve been to India and Sri Lanka, with the academy mainly, so it’s not the first time I’ve been here. The heat and the humidity is not new.”
England head into the tournament buoyed by back-to-back Ashes triumphs over Australia in the multi-series format.
But they were second best by a 2-1 margin during the T20 part of the rubber Down Under and Sciver concedes there is room for improvement.
“It’s definitely a learning curve,” she said. “Obviously it’s going to be a bit different out here with different conditions.
“I guess it’s a new slate and time to perform now.”
The first opportunity to do so comes in Tuesday’s game with Pakistan, the country against whom Sciver made her international bow last July.
“It’s good to play them again to see how we’ve developed and how they’ve developed as well,” she said.
“They’ll be a lot of sweeping, I think! They’re more likely to sweep than the likes of New Zealand and Australia.”
It is tempting to wonder how regaining the trophy they won in 2009 would compare to England’s achievement of consecutive Ashes successes. For now, Sciver is reserving judgement as she features at a maiden ICC global event.
“I’m not sure (which would be better) because I’ve never been part of a World Cup. It’s an exciting new experience,” she added.
“I went to the prep camp in India for the last one but this is the first time I’m taking part so I’m really excited.”