UAE tour good for Aussies ahead of World T20 – Steve Rixon – Cricket News Update
Australia’s acting coach http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World T20 Championship, to be played in hot and humid Sri Lankan conditions,
next month.
"It's a bonus for us to be playing here as it's important for us to be getting miles in the legs [ahead of the World Twenty20] and this is the best place to be doing it,” said Rixon upon the team’s arrival in the United Arab Emirates,
on Wednesday.
Australia are schedule to play a total of four One Day Internationals and three T20 Internationals during the three-week long tour of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Afghanistan-c745, in Sharjah on Saturday,
August 25, before kick starting their limited-overs series against the Men in Green, on August 28.
The average temperatures in the UAE during the months of August and September are expected to remain around 40 degrees Celsius. To avoid the worst of the UAE heat, the concerned boards have agreed to play in the night. The ODIs are
set to begin at 6pm local time and finish past midnight while the T20Is will start at 8pm, but still there were concerns expressed by the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA), regarding the playing conditions.
Rixon said that they were well aware of the harsh playing conditions in the Gulf, and are well equipped to counter the severity of weather over the next couple of weeks.
"Most of the players have been in places with access to that kind of weather and have acclimatised accordingly so now it's not as big a deal,” said the 58-year-old former wicketkeeper batsman, who played 13 Tests and six One Day Internationals
for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 between December 1977 and March 1985.
“Whatever happens here will be a very big stepping stone to us being successful in Sri Lanka. If we get through this, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 will seem like a holiday resort," he added further.
Australia have been pooled in Group B, in the 12-team World T20 Championship, and will open up their World Cup campaign against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ireland-c751, at Colombo, on September 19.
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