McMillan excited by New Zealand’s prospects at T20 World Cup

By Jonathan Healy

New Zealand assistant coach Craig McMillan is excited by what lies ahead for his side at next month's ICC Women's T20 World Cup.

The White Ferns became the eighth team to name their squad for the T20 World Cup on Tuesday when they revealed a good blend of youth and experience among their 15-player group to travel to the UAE for the 20-over showcase at the end of this month.

Experienced duo set to make history as New Zealand announce squad for T20 World Cup

Experienced captain Sophie Devine will lead the White Ferns at T20I level for the last time at the tournament, while fellow veterans Suzie Bates and Lea Tahuhu were also named in a squad that includes star all-rounder Amelia Kerr and up and coming spinner Fran Jonas.

While McMillan didn't want to reveal what the expectations were for his group at the T20 World Cup, the former Kiwi all-rounder is confident in the ability of his players and excited about what they can achieve in the UAE.

"I think the expectations will stay within the group, but what I would say is that we're excited about the (T20) World Cup and the matches that we have in our group," McMillan told ICC Digital from Lincoln on New Zealand's south island.

"We know that we probably won't be one of the teams that's favoured by many, but we're confident in the players and the group we have and we're really looking forward to the tournament."

Just how well Bates and Devine perform in New Zealand's top-order will be pivotal to the Kiwis' prospects, with the pair having featured in every edition of the tournament since its inception in 2009.

The duo have twice finished as runner up at the event with New Zealand (2009,2010) and reached the semi-finals on another two occasions (2012,2016) and McMillan would love nothing more than to see them lift the coveted trophy at the ninth edition of the tournament.

"When they (Devine and Bates) finish (retire), they will go down as two of the very best that have played for the White Ferns and I couldn't think of a better way for two legends of the game in New Zealand to perhaps go out, maybe holding a trophy," McMillan pondered.

"I like the balance we have with the youngsters learning off the experienced players that we have, but what we need is everyone doing their job to the best of their ability and if that happens, you just never know what might happen come World Cup time."

McMillan only joined New Zealand's coaching group earlier this year and the Kiwi great received a tough initiation to his new role when the White Ferns suffered series sweeps against England in both the ODI and T20I components of their white-ball series’ away from home in July.

McMillan said the team found plenty of learnings from those series losses and thinks they can mix it with any opposition should they play at their best.

"I think we learnt that there's work to be done to compete consistently with the top sides in the world and we obviously recently played England, who are certainly one of those sides that are in the top three (favourites),” McMillan said.

“But also I think what we learnt was there's plenty of talent and skill in this White Ferns side and how good this New Zealand side is I think will show very soon and I'm really excited by that."