Chloe Piparo says coach Lisa Keightley’s appointment as England women’s coach is not a distraction for the Perth Scorchers ahead of tomorrow night’s clash with the Melbourne Renegades at the WACA Ground.
The Scorchers are in need of wins after going 1-2 in their opening WBBL fixtures on the road.
It was announced Wednesday that Keightley would head to the UK at the end of the Women’s Big Bash this season.
“I think that’s a great achievement for her and I think a great achievement for the WACA as well to have a coach appointed the head coach of England,” Piparo said.
“We’re looking forward to getting out there and putting some good performances on the board. I don’t see it impacting the team at all.
“It’s not true (that we’re distracted). We’re really focused on WBBL. Lisa is here for the rest of the tournament. She is a real pro in the way she goes about things and sets up the team and the squad. It’s not going to affect this team at all.
“I’m sure there are some really good candidates out there (to be our new coach) and that will be a process for the WACA and the high performance staff to go through at the end of the year.”
Piparo said playing the Renegades and then the Melbourne Stars at the WACA Ground should see the Scorchers find their best.
“We haven’t won the games we would have liked going into the season but I think we’ve got a really strong squad and we’ll be able to turn it around really quickly,” Piparo said.
“Our middle order we need to probably improve that to get a few more runs on the board and probably just bowl our best ball for a little bit longer. It’s always great to play some home games. We always play really well at the WACA so fingers crossed we get the results.”
Piparo said they had gone to work on their loss to the Renegades in St Kilda last week, while Saturday’s opponent, the Stars, had been weakened by injuries but still presented a tough challenge.
“They’ve got some real firepower at the top of the order,” Piparo said.
“We’ll come against Elyse Villani for the first time. She plays really well at the WACA. I’m sure she’ll be raring to get out there.”