Rose Bowl result too close for Sthalekar's liking

Lisa Sthalekar, the Australian vice-captain, has said her side didn't play as well as they would have liked to in the Rose Bowl series against New Zealand. Australia won the five-match series 3-2 at Darwin.

"They were about to head out to England so it was a great lead-up series for [New Zealand]," Sthalekar, who was forced out of the last three matches because of an injury to her little finger, told the Central Western Daily in Orange, New South Wales.

But Sthalekar added that the series had also been a good lead-in to Australia's domestic season. England are scheduled to tour Australia in February, following which Australia will go to New Zealand in March.

Currently in Orange as a guest coach at the Emerging Breakers Western Zone programme, Sthalekar explained to the young girls what was required of them when they played at the elite level. She is Cricket New South Wales' High Performance coach and oversees all junior female elite programmes. "I make sure that the girls get the appropriate coaching and we bring up special coaches," she said. "So they're equipped with the right resources to go further with their careers."

Sthalekar also felt more Twenty20 games, especially as curtain-raisers to the men's version, will help women's cricket. "Hopefully that will be a good opportunity to expose women's cricket to the greater population that doesn't know it's out there."

The Rose Bowl Series was preceded by a thrilling Twenty20 game between the two sides that Australia won by a run. New Zealand needed three off the final ball when a throw from the deep caught Sarah Tsukigawa short attempting the two runs that would have forced a second bowl-off between the teams in nine months.