All 10 teams taking part in the Women’s T20 World Cup are staying in the same hotel which has been creating awkward situations, according to England captain Heather Knight.
It is a scenario unique to the tournament after political and civil unrest in Bangladesh prompted a change in host nation to the United Arab Emirates, with the games being held across Sharjah and Dubai.
England come up against Bangladesh in their opening fixture, live on Sky Sports, with Knight’s side looking to build on their unbeaten summer at home.
“I think a few of the players have had some awkward interactions in the lift but that’s the nature of the beast,” said Knight.
“In World Cups you usually have other teams in your hotel but obviously there’s 10 teams in the same one so it’s different.
“There’s lots of places to go out and explore in Dubai. There’s quite a few good cafes and I think each team has probably found their own and marked it as their territory.
“It’s quite intense because you’re always on show and there’s always others around but that’s the nature of it.”
England are also relying on data from the 2021 Men’s T20 World Cup that took place in UAE and Oman due to the lack of statistics on women’s cricket at stadiums in the Middle East.
“There’s not a huge amount of data on women’s cricket at all here so we’ve been looking at how the men’s game has worked and the toss is definitely going to be important,” added Knight.
“Dew hasn’t been a factor so far because the temperature change hasn’t been enough. It’s been extremely hot at night so there hasn’t been any dew and batting first has been a big advantage.
“I expect that to change. I keep being told it’s going to get cooler in the next week or so there will be a point where dew will be a factor but until that happens it’s a bit of a guessing game.”
Another aspect that is similar to the men’s tournament three years ago will be crowd sizes.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions in 2021, capacity in the stadiums was reduced to 70% and with the late venue change, the women’s tournament is also expecting a low turnout.
“I don’t think it’s a question of looking bad. It’s obviously been quite a last-minute change and it’s something we’re aware of as a team,” said Knight.
“I think as players we’re now so used to getting energy from the crowd and having so many people in to watch it.
“How you use the crowd and how you thrive off it is quite an individual thing.
“We’ve spoken a bit about bringing and creating our own energy, even if no one’s in the stadium, which is probably going to be the case.”
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Scotland captain Kathryn Bryce claimed the team’s first T20 World Cup wicket during their opener against Bangladesh
England completed an unbeaten home summer with a whitewash over Pakistan and New Zealand in a white-ball multi-format series.
They will be looking to build on that success having been dealt a slightly easier group coming up against tournament debutants Scotland, Bangladesh, South Africa and the West Indies in the group stage.
England claimed the World Cup title in 2009 during the inaugural edition but have since struggled to make it to the final.
During the previous edition, Knight’s side exited at the semi-final stage for the second-straight tournament in 2022 but will be hoping to take it one step further this time.
Australia have dominated the T20 scene, winning the last three editions and six overall. Given the round-robin format, England may not come up against their arch-rivals until the semi-final or final.
Australia also thrashed England by 33-runs during the warm-up game in preparation for their T20 campaign.
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Bangladesh’s Fahima Khatun took this fantastic catch during their Women’s T20 World Cup match against Scotland
“I think the way we played against them last year in the Ashes is just the blueprint of how we’re going to play against any team, regardless of it being Australia or whoever,” said Knight.
“I think it’s really important we don’t look too far ahead of that. We’re just focussing on Bangladesh.
“Australia are favourites for sure. They’ve been really successful in this event but I feel like we’re in a really good place and we’ve played some brilliant cricket.
“We believe we can beat anyone on our best day and our challenge now is just to do that on the biggest stage.”
Hussain: Sides are catching up with Australia
Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain believes that sides are catching up with Australia who have dominated the T20 scene for over a decade.
However, this year Australia will be without Meg Lanning, their captain who led them to five World Cup titles, after she announced her retirement in 2023.
“Australia are in the tougher group but they are the team to beat,” Hussain said on Sky Sports News.
“They’ve had a couple of changes, a change in captaincy. Alyssa Healy now is captain. Meg Lanning retired from international cricket, but they have so many star all-rounders, so many star players all the way down this squad.
“We saw that in The Hundred this summer when quite a few of their players, like Annabel Sutherland and Phoebe Litchfield, came and did really well.
“They are still the side to beat but there are a lot of good sides in this tournament.”
What’s next at Women’s T20 World Cup?
Bangladesh face England on Saturday with Heather Knight’s side playing their first match of the tournament on Saturday October 5 at 3pm, live on Sky Sports.
Pakistan are in action against India in a classic blockbuster on Sunday October 6 at 11am.
Watch every match of the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports, concluding with the final in Dubai on Sunday October 20.