The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifiers were hosted in Vanuatu last week, offering New Zealand Cricket representatives an opportunity to support the tournament and the growth of its participants.

NZC Community Cricket National Coach Development Manager, Toby Doyle, and NZC Head of Female Engagement, Jess Davidson, attended as part of a group of ICC Master Educators delivering the first ever ICC Level 2 Course.

 “It was an honour to deliver the inaugural ICC Level 2 Coaching Course in Vanuatu alongside Toby,” said Davidson.

“Throughout the course, coaches were equipped with knowledge and practices to expand their coaching tool kit and ultimately aid the development of players in their local region.”

Davidson and Doyle were also key in delivering female-specific ‘Health & Leadership’ sessions for players and support staff, as well as an ICC Level 1 course.

“Toby and I also facilitated development opportunities for nearly 100 female athletes through the 100% Cricket Leadership Program, which ran concurrently to the tournament,” said Davidson.

“Women’s Health Education sessions aimed to normalise and drive necessary conversation around the topic of women’s health and menstrual cycles within the cricket ecosystem whilst Leadership sessions aimed to empower athletes and enhance their leadership capabilities both on and off the field,”

“It was a privilege to be involved in the event which provided ample opportunities for development and was a true celebration of women’s cricket in the EAP region.”

Former WHITE FERN, Maia Lewis, received the opportunity to attend the qualifiers in an ‘Aspiring Commentator’ capacity – observing and learning from women’s commentary legend, Mel Jones.

Lewis has featured in the Dream11 Super Smash as a Ground Announcer and indicated her interest to upskill in the commentary space.

ICC International Development Panel Umpire, Kim Cotton, attended the tournament as an appointed ICC Umpire.

NZC Pathway to Performance graduate, Kerry Tomlinson, led the Samoan Women’s national team as Head Coach, adding value in lead up to and throughout the tournament.

Tomlinson helped detail her time with the Samoan Women’s side.

“The Samoan Women’s Coaching role came about because I was approached by four different people from NZC in the space of 2 days, I thought maybe this will be a good fit, and indeed it was,” said Tomlinson.

“Although it was a young inexperienced side, the team worked hard in our 10-day training camp prior to the ICC EAP qualifiers in Vanuatu. We lacked the experience and leadership on field, but this young side took the lessons and learnings,”

“This was an awesome coaching experience where I could pass on my knowledge and skills to a group who really appreciated having me there. I enjoyed being in a few new countries and learning about the cultures, and also the amount of fun you have as a group when in a tournament.” Tomlinson concluded.

Eventual tournament champions, Vanuatu, will now join Ireland, Sri Lanka, Thailand and United Arab Emirates as the five locked in teams for the Qualifier to be held early next year.

For all tournament information including scorecards and statistics, click here.