The Australian women's cricket team is leaving no stone unturned in their preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 in the United Arab Emirates.
While training on the ground for the opposition teams is taking place every day before their campaign opener, the players are also adapting to new heat exposure protocols which were initially developed for the Aussie contingent at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
This will help the players when they take the field in the scorching heat of UAE, the venue which was picked last minute by the ICC after shifting the tournament out of Bangladesh due to the political unrest and protests there.
Aus women get first taste of UAE heat
This is the first time Australian women will be playing in the UAE therefore, the team management is paying extra attention towards improving the players' fitness and fatigue in 40-plus degree Celsius temperatures.
Meg Lanning and Co. are undergoing sauna sessions every day with temperatures reaching 70-90 degrees. Each player spends at least 30 minutes inside the sauna to get used to the extreme heat. They have been doing this since Australia’s T20 series against New Zealand in Mackay last month.
Players hating sauna sessions
"I absolutely hated doing all our sauna prep in the lead up, but it's worth it. We've got a really good SSSM (sports science and sports medicine) team behind us, giving us all the right advice and any little edge or advantage we can get, we're going to go there. So it's all helping," Australia vice-captain Tahlia McGrath said.
Australia physical performance coach Jordan Stares explained that the idea behind this exercise is to increase the sweat rate of the players.
"There's a few physiological changes that we're after (with the heat acclimation strategies).
"Number one is an increased sweat rate. Often sweating is considered to be a negative thing, but it's actually what helps us cool our body temperature down, so we get increased blood volume. Then there’s some psycho-cognitive adaptations as well, in how you perceive the heat," Stares said.
Australia will open their campaign against Sri Lanka in Sharjah on October 5 at 3.30 pm, which is the only day game they will play in the group stage.
