Spirit getting better all the time - coach

An improving Northern Spirit side threatens to give the women's cricket competitions a shake this season, starting today in Whangarei.

The Owen Steverson-coached team features New Zealand representatives Nicola Browne and Morna Nielsen, along with five members of the national Emerging Players team that has been competing against its trans-Tasman rivals over the past fortnight in Australia.

Steverson said the goals for his young side, which proved to be a competitive unit for most of last season, were two-fold and similar to those of the previous campaign.

"To drive our players to national honours and to compete strongly in the domestic competitions," Steverson said.

"With more experience, we're getting better all the time."

The Spirit finished fourth in both the one-day and Twenty20 competitions last season and Steverson hoped the introduction of more one-day games than Twenty20 matches this season would be hugely beneficial.

"It's a really good move - playing the longer games will give all the players a better opportunity to develop their games," he said.

"We want to achieve consistency of performance, day in and day out, and do the basics really well - get the ball in good areas and turn starts into significant scores."

The Spirit meet the Canterbury Magicians in a Twenty20 match today at Cobham Oval and then play two one-dayers against the same opposition over the weekend.

- © Fairfax NZ News