A 17-member Asian Cricket Council’s women players will hone their skills at ACA Women’s Academy at Guntur from August 3 to 22. Barring five Chinese players, the rest from Hong Kong, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand have already arrived, according to Andhra Cricket Association director (operations) M.S.K. Prasad here on Saturday.
Thanks to the initiative of ACC development officer and former India spinner Venkatapathy Raju, Guntur academy was short-listed as it housed the best of facilities. “These girls have already played international fixtures, and they have a fair idea about competitions at the top level.
'They will be undergoing advanced training in fitness and other skills under the tutelage of ACA coaches Maria Fahey and Srinivasa Reddy,” Mr. Prasad added.
The coaches will concentrate on fitness, match practice and umpire laws. The morning session will be earmarked for fitness and training, and in the evening, the players will hit the nets. Coach Reddy said the aim was to prepare them for the forthcoming World Cups, both 50-50 and T20 formats. The overseas players will play four ODIs and six T20s against Andhra senior team, which will enable them to get the all-important match practice.
Assisting Mr. Reddy and Ms. Maria will be trainer Koteswara Rao, physiotherapist Gayatri and video analyst Chaitanya Nag who will capture the moments of the play and training of the players to help them analyse the performance after the tour.
The Chinese national women’s team had made use of the facilities at the academy in 2010. After the ACC team’s sojourn, the Thailand national team will train at Guntur.