Give them more cricket, not camps: Rana

Women’s cricket coach Mansoor Rana urges PCB to ensure the players remain involved in the sport all year round.

MURIDKE: Pakistan women’s cricket coach Mansoor Rana has urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to ensure the players remain involved in the sport all year round in order to improve their performance on the international level.

The squad is currently assembled in Muridke for a training camp before it flies out to South Africa for a six-nation One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 tournament from October 6. This will be Pakistan’s first involvement on the international circuit since a poor 2010 World Twenty20 in the West Indies earlier this year and Rana is not expecting miracles from them.

“We’re underdogs in world cricket and I’ve told the players to use that to their advantage,” Rana told The Express Tribune at the training camp. “We have the potential to do well but we need to play more matches, get more exposure and spend enough time playing in the middle to do that.”

The absence of a full domestic season and the reluctance of foreign teams to visit Pakistan, according to the coach, has not only hampered the team’s chances of improving on their number-six ranking but also the individuals unable to make a name for themselves.

“They need to spend time in the middle as 30 runs in the middle is equal to spending ten days in the nets. We assemble for short camps and then jet off for foreign tournaments. You can’t expect miracles from the team then.

“We also need to be playing quality opposition regularly. Just holding camps is a complete waste of money if there’s no structure to follow.”

Pakistan, missing several key players due to personal commitments, will be departing on October 4 and will take on Ireland in the first match.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2010.