Extended time off whets Matthew Mott's appetite to "stay involved"

Matthew Mott and Meg Lanning have often spoken about how the heartbreak of the 2017 semi-final ouster pushed Australia to find a new gear. Determined to win some silverware after having lost their grip on both the T20 and ODI Worls Cups, they became a more attacking team, constantly "pushing the game forward."

Since the start of March 2018, they have been unbeaten in ODIs, steamrolling opponents with ease, rarely breaking a sweat. As of August 2020, they have pocketed two more T20 World Cups to take their total to five and looked primed to reclaim their one-day crown in 2021 in New Zealand.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the postponement of the Women's World Cup by 12 months, giving Mott and his Australian team a bit of a break from what has been a grueling 18 months. While the head coach admits his team is devastated by the postponement of the tournament, he added that the time off has helped everyone gain some much needed perspective.

"We were devastated to have that World Cup pushed back," Mott told cricket.com.au. "Since 2017, that is what has motivated us."

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"Pushing it back has changed the dynamic a bit, but it gives us a bit of extra time to work out how we want to play the next two to three years."

"This (pandemic) is a life-changing experience for everyone and it makes you appreciate just how lucky we are, to be in the jobs we're in. If anything, it's added to the delight I have to be in this role."

Mott, whose contract was renewed towards the end of 2019, to leave him in charge till the end of the 2021 World Cup, had expressed uncertainty about wanting to remain in the role beyond that tournament. However, more than five months since his team last took the field, the 46-year-old said the extended break has left him wanting to stay in the system for a little while longer.

"The time I had to reflect, that I hadn't had for a long time, in many ways lengthened my appetite to stay involved. This almost feels like a bit of a gap year, the last six months, we don't have a lot of cricket between now and Christmas either."

"The way the players have trained by themselves in isolation, I think that shows we've got a really good culture set up here and you want to be a part of it for a bit longer. We've got a number of players who are at their peak or just ready to (hit it). We want to play … this is certainly the longest I've gone without playing or coaching, and I can't wait to get back out there and remember what it's like," he said.

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Through the pandemic, Cricket Australia have continued to show their commitment to the women's game by scheduling a full-fledged Women's Big Bash League after the first international series of the summer against New Zealand in September. They are also in talks with New Zealand Cricket to fill the gap in February-March next year with a Trans-Tasman series.

While he has still not spoken to the board about the possibility of continuing in his role until the World Cup in 2022, Mott said he will get down to that when there is more clarity around the Future Tour Programs and what the team's schedule looks like over the next few months. He is in no rush at the minute.

"It's certainly not high on the agenda of things to do right now, there's plenty of things to do in our organisation, so it's pretty much business as usual at the moment," Mott explained. "When the time is right, I'll sit down with (CA's Executive General Manager of National Teams) Ben Oliver and have a discussion around what things look like not just for the next year, but the next couple of years."

"We're still waiting on what the Future Tours Programme will look like. There's the one-day World Cup, the 2022 Commonwealth Games and another T20 World Cup all in close succession. So, when we get a bit of breathing space we'll sit down to see what that looks like for everyone."

If Mott does stay on with the team beyond 2021, he will have plenty to look forward to with the Women's World Cup in February-March 2022, and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham shortly after.