US women’s coach seeks teenager in India to strengthen team for World Cup qualifier

Linden Fraser, the United States women’s team coach, isn’t rolling the dice when he says there is a 15-year-old schoolgirl in India who should be playing for the senior side.

He said that he would encourage the selectors to name Shebani Bhaskar to the US squad when the team is chosen for next year’s qualifying tournament in Bangladesh for the 2012 World Cup in India.

 Fraser, who was speaking to cricketusamag.com after the US women’s team recent successful campaign in Toronto, Canada, said: “She is our brightest hope.

“Shebani is a brilliant bat and should be in the team. I have met her and watched her play on video. She is very good. She is young and physically fit and plays regularly.”

Fraser said Shebani scored 103, including 15 fours, of her team’s 181 total in a recent game in Tamil Nadu in India where she plays in an Under 17 competition.

Shebani was born in the US, but her family decided to move back to India several years ago. She and her family visited friends in the US in June last year and at the time she met Fraser.

Fraser was looking ahead to next year’s tournament after he was buoyed by the US team’s three victories against Canada in 50 over contests to qualify for next year’s tournament. The celebrations, however, were slightly watered down when Canada rebounded to win the two 20/20 games.

The US team suffered several injuries and fitness became a major concern and then there was the controversy with the walkout by wicketkeeper Pauline Williams.

Williams claimed she was not happy with the way she was treated in Canada and being overlooked in games. When she left the squad at the start of the third 50-over game the Americans felt the immediate pressure of playing one short for the remainder of the trip.

The  hullabaloo left a sour taste with the touring party, which Fraser, who did not make the trip to Canada, hopes will be sorted out soon.

“It is an issue that the administration has to deal with. The players may forgive her. I don’t know. That’s the question,” he said.

US women’s captain Durga Das said in an interview with cricketusamag.com from Mumbai where she is on a business trip, that the controversy with Williams could be sorted out allowing the players to move on.

“Pauline is young. These things happen and I have no hard feelings,” said Das, who plays with the Western Firebirds in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Fraser said that women’s cricket in the past year had improved as much as 30 percent. He said there was now more interest in the game and this was reflected in a coming three day tournament in Fort Lauderdale from October 8 to 10.

He said there were four teams scheduled to compete from New York, the North East region, California and the Atlantic region, but over the past few days there had been interest from more teams and the tournament might be increased to six teams.

The improvement in the US team has been all round, said Fraser, with younger players from the Caribbean, India and Pakistan with the average age around 24. The youngest in the team is 22-year-old Triholder Marshall and the oldest Durga, who is 40.  

Fraser is concerned about the number of injuries players had in Canada and the fitness level was also another worry. The fitness of players probably contributed to the injuries. “We just did not play enough and the body was not accustomed to that hammering,” he said.

He said the US team should have a physiotherapist for the next tournament.

Fraser said he hoped selectors named a squad of 20 or 22 before next year’s qualifier with a coach and trainer so the players could work together and reach a high fitness level. Then the final 14-woman squad would be chosen for the qualifier in Bangladesh.

Das, an upper order bat and off spinner, said everyone in the team had to work hard to be in the team and warned that it would be “10 times harder in Bangladesh than it was in Canada.”

She said injuries became a worry in Canada when seven or eight players suffered minor injuries ranging from turned ankles, muscle strains and bruising. “It came down to lack of preparation for the games and the level of fitness,” said Das.

“We need to prepare differently. It is about playing smart and not just running hard.”

Das sat with Robin Singh, the coach of the Mumbai Indians in the India Professional League and coach of the India Under 19 team, on a two-hour flight from Chennai to Mumbai.

She could not believe her luck that she met Singh by chance and took his advice and tips on fitness and preparation for games. Das plans to train with Singh’s teams while in Mumbai.

During her conversation with Singh he discussed the high level of fitness of the Australian women’s team, one of the top contenders for the World Cup.

While fitness and preparation are high on the women’s agenda, getting selectors to pick Shebani is also a priority.

“Hopefully, we will qualify and I think we have an excellent chance to qualify,” said Fraser.