Phoebe Litchfield puts 'heat acclimation' on priority in NZ T20Is

Mackay (Australia), Sep 17 (IANS) Ahead of next month's Women's T20 World Cup in UAE, Australia batter Phoebe Litchfield feels acclimatising to the gulf's heat will be on their agenda in the upcoming three-match home T20I series against New Zealand, starting on Thursday.

Defending champions are coming after a lengthy, rare international break, as they last toured Bangladesh for limited-overs series in March and April. Despite not being on national duty, Australian players were busy in the women's Hundred in the UK in August, while Tahlia McGrath was only one of Australia's 15-strong squad to play in the recent Australia A limited-overs series against India A.

Litchfield doesn't feel a long break is concern for the defending champions but noted that adjusting to weather conditions would be a task for them to achieve.

"It's going to be hot. Not too dissimilar to Bangladesh. So our preparation continues the same, and we're probably going to do some heat acclimation over the next sort of week and a half to get ready. But I think being Australian, we're really suited to hot weather, so hopefully it won't be too bad," ESPNcricinfo quoted Litchfield as saying.

The 21-year-old, who will play her first World Cup, expressed her disappointment in moving the tournament from Bangladesh to the UAE due to political unrest in the country. However, the southpaw added that conditions in both countries are somewhat similar.

"I think it's really disappointing not to go to Bangladesh. I know how much they were looking forward to it. But I think Dubai offers as much as it can, and we're looking forward to it. I was having a look at a few temperatures there. It's going to be 37 (degrees Celsius) feels like 45 kind of thing," Litchfield said.

The youngster is not a confirmed starter in Australia's T20 World Cup playing 11; however, she remains committed to her middle-order role in the team.

"I assume it's probably going to be similar to what I've been doing before, if I do play. It'll be going through the middle order and hopefully building off the back of some top order brilliance," Litchfield said.

The first two matches of the series will be played in Mackay before moving to Brisbane for the final T20I on Sunday. Both Australia and New Zealand will fly straight to the UAE next Wednesday.

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