From not knowing the rules to playing at the World Cup

The Thai women’s team take on the West Indies today after a meteoric rise, writes Pippa Field

It would not be unfair to describe the scenes following the Women’s T20 World Cup warm-up match between New Zealand and Thailand as unusual. New Zealand’s players, fresh from an 81-run victory, sat down and gave coaching advice and tactics to their beaten opponents. For those who place importance on competitive advantage, it may seem odd on the eve of the tournament, even if they are miles apart in playing quality.

But the images of sportsmanship: of the players mingling; of New Zealand captain Sophie Devine explaining how to rotate the strike; and opener Suzie Bates talking footwork – were met with widespread praise. It was another heart-warming moment in the incredible rise of Thailand women’s cricket team, a journey that has taken them from not even understanding the rules to a World Cup debut against the West Indies this morning inside 13 years.

“To play in the World Cup is any cricketer’s dream,” captain Sornnarin Tippoch told The Daily Telegraph. “Our dream is now a reality and we want to be an inspiration to nations in our region that these dreams are possible if you are true to the craft.”

As someone who has never missed a game for her country, the captain is well placed to describe the progress of her sport, which is played by more than 3,000 women in Thailand. The 33-year-old, from a family of farmers 250 miles east of Bangkok, was one of the first people approached in 2007 after the Cricket Association of Thailand (CAT), having been made an International Cricket Council associate member two years earlier, decided to target converting sportswomen.

“A lot has changed since I decided to go on this journey,” reflects the former university softball player. “I knew nothing about the sport, there were too many rules and everything was just confusing. On our first tour we lost all our games before lunch, we bowled countless wides, and couldn’t hit the ball off the square.”

In 2007 the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) organised a first women’s tournament. Thailand finished last in their group behind Nepal, Hong Kong and Malaysia, scoring 40 all out in each of their the team are products made by our own set-up, which puts us in a good position for the future.”

Whereas only three provinces other than Bangkok had cricket played by Thais in 2007, the country now counts 14 provinces with age groups for boys, girls, men and women. And the women continued to progress. The debut of women’s cricket at the 2010 Asian Games brought exposure and the national team won their first senior title at the 2013 ACC Women’s Championship.

But despite beating their first full ICC member in Sri Lanka in 2018, they were still unable to make inroads at T20 and 50-over World Cup qualifiers, losing every group match in 2015, 2017 and 2018. The appointment in 2018 of head coach Harshal Pathak, a man described by Kader as “pivotal”, helped them over that bump.

Having impressive interpersonal skills and an eye for detail, Pathak favours match simulations and preparation over excessive net sessions. Last year they won the T20 World Cup Asia qualifier to progress to the global qualifiers in Scotland, where they topped their group and beat semi-finalists Papua New Guinea to reach the World Cup. In among that was a run of 17 consecutive women’s T20 wins up until August 2019, breaking Australia’s record.

“When I took over, I noticed the players were very talented and had the ability to bat, bowl and field well. There was a need to put in a lot of tactical work,” Pathak, a former first-class cricketer from India, said. “Our team needed to change mindset, and the change was to be more aggressive. We worked very hard.”

The team are desperate to finish in the top eight in Australia to avoid going back to the qualifiers, but it is also an opportunity to show that cricket in Thailand is a serious prospect for girls. “There is a lot more excitement in the Thailand cricket community and the sport seems to be heading in the right direction,” Kader said. “To see the girls now makes me proud. We belong on the world stage.”