Four (4) U-19 girls selected from the Asuogyaman District of the Eastern Region of Ghana successfully wrapped up their two-day emerging camp at the Achimota Cricket Oval on Sunday, January 15, 2023.
Priscilla Oppongbea, Faustina Nartey, Deborah Tawiah and Bernice Opare were taken through various hard ball basics in batting, bowling and fielding by the Senior Women’s head Coach, Obed Harvey.
Speaking to TalksenseSports during the camp, Angela Allotey, treasurer of the Ghana Cricket Association and Ambassador for women cricket in Ghana talks about the plan for the girls.
“We are getting young girls ready to add them to the senior national women’s team. We are trying to make sure that these senior emerging ladies are well trained, that they are having enough time to be prepared, to get them to justify their inclusion into the senior team. We are not saying the senior team is ageing but at the same time this will gradually get the young girls from the communities emerging into our senior team. So, this is the female pathway”
Creating a pool of players from all cricket hubs across the country will actually strengthen the national teams while bringing a lot of quality due to individual efficiency.
Here is the Senior national women’s head coach, Obed Harvey.
“We are creating an opportunity for the girls to be roped into our structure and also get exposed to a different level of cricket and that is our number 1 goal and I am happy that it took effect with a positive week 1. Whatever we have identified, we will make sure the coaches take it home, work on it and we evaluate after reporting to us. We are hopeful we do it throughout the year. We can do it quarterly and you never know, just looking at how ready we will be and see what the pipeline holds for us in terms of competitions and then we are going to use this to put our girls in high performance level, those who will be knocking on the doors to play for the national team. That is something that we look forward to.”
Some fielding sessions after warm up activations include; close catches, running high catches, and ground fielding which has attacking, diving and rolling reflex catches. There were also gather and bound and target bowling.
Head Coach and representative of the Eastern Region Cricket Association, Frederick Anim Lartey believes the future is bright for these girls.
“It has been a good exposure for the girls and it is something we have been yearning for because they have been in their comfort zone playing among themselves and it has brought the deficit they have in them. With the help of the senior women’s coach, we have identified some areas we really need to look at, to polish these girls for future use. The future is really bright because with what they have exhibited, if there is opportunity, right facilities, right coaching and feedback, they will do great for Ghana and for themselves.”
The batting drills saw the girls practice pop ups (playing on the front foot and swinging through straight lines), playing the pull shots, live nets and running between wickets.
Coach in charge of the four girls, Patrick Osafo also shared what he has learnt as a coach, believing the 2 days has been impactful.
“It has been very impactful. Previously, what we do at our various teams, we have learnt a lot from here. Some of the things we do it wrongly, batting skills, bowling skills, fielding. Some of the drills, we do it but not right. This is where coach Obed is teaching us a whole lot, so, it has been very impactful and the girls are happy doing it”
The 3-week camp with different turns for selected regions continues on Saturday and Sunday, January 21 and 22 at the Achimota Cricket Oval for selected Girls from Central Region.
The Participants shared their experience for the two-days.
“It has been a nice event and since yesterday, we have learnt a lot, enduring when the ball hits you, falling down and we now know the different forms of batting. At first, we though it is only moving forward to strike but not the backwards movement. And with bowling too, how to jump and the steps before delivering. It was a bit difficult but we tried our best. This was not our expectation but it was good.”
With women cricket taking a global shape, Ghana won’t be left out in the not-too-distant future, as the senior team have actually participated in notable competitions in Africa.
By: Davis Nii Attuquaye Clottey
