Deandra Dottin has warned West Indies to get their house in order quickly or risk things "not ending well" in an impassioned plea for players to be better respected and resourced.
Speaking in detail for the first time since her shock international retirement, Dottin told the Ladies Who Switch podcast that the board has a lot of work to do for the game to improve in the Caribbean.
"To be honest, there's been a lot going on in the camp and so much I've been through, so many things that needed to be sorted out, and the players not getting the respect and basically the attention because there are things that needed to be done in order for players to actually perform to the best of their ability," Dottin said. "If you're uncomfortable and if you don't have the things in place for your players to be the best that they can be and actually improve then there's always going to be problems."
She says she has had "no second thoughts" about retiring from international cricket, calling for better support for West Indies players and improvements in their regional structure.
"It has a lot to do with the board, how they handle stuff and how they handle players and how they actually speak to players," Dottin said. "Certain people take things different, so it is a lot of work that West Indies Cricket will need to be done and I think they need to do it as fast as possible because it's not going to end well for West Indies Cricket or cricket in the Caribbean.
TEENAGER Zaida James has been having an incredible 2023, and more is yet to come.
James, 18, will be making her debut for Trinbago Knight Riders in the 2023 edition of the Women's Caribbean Premier League (WCPL). The St Lucian allrounder started the year with consecutive half-centuries for West Indies in the inaugural ICC Under-19 Women's World Cup in South Africa.
James cracked 52 off 57 balls in the opening game vs Ireland on January 15 and followed that with a whirlwind 55 from 37 balls against Indonesia – both wins for the regional team.
Her performances caught the eyes of West Indies selectors and she earned her a dream call-up to the senior team. She made her senior T20 debut against India on January 30, 2023 in a tri-series involving South Africa. Her debut ended in defeat but James was unbeaten on 21 not out with two sixes.
One memory that will be etched in the hearts of the West Indies fans forever is that of Britney Cooper scoring the winning runs to defeat Australia in the women`s final of the 2016 T20 World Cup in India.
Cooper finished the game on three not out as West Indies completed a historic victory with three balls to spare.
The 34-year-old middle-order batter made her debut for the maroon against South Africa in October 2009 for both the One Day Internationals and T20 formats. The Trinidadian has played 49 ODI matches scoring 575 runs with a top score of 55 against South Africa. Her last match played for them was two years ago in the home series against South Africa in 2021.
In the shorter version, the T20, she wore the WI colours on 76 occasions scoring 633 runs with the highest score of 66 coming against New Zealand. She last represented them earlier this year in January against South Africa.
West Indies all-rounders Akeal Hosein and Odean Smith will take their talents to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in January of next year after being announced as two of the marquee signings for the MI Emirates on Monday.
The pair will join the likes of Andre Fletcher, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, McKenny Clarke and Nicholas Pooran on the MI Emirates roster.
Elsewhere, Johnson Charles will join the Sharjah Warriors, who also retained Trinidadian all-rounder Mark Deyal ahead of next season’s tournament.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Cricket West Indies (CWI) today announced the West Indies Rising Stars Men’s Under 19s squad for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka starting on 25 August. The Selection Panel named 15 players for the Rising Stars Under 19s Tour which will feature three 50-over matches and two four-day matches against the Sri Lanka Under 19 team at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium.
Top-order batter Stephan Pascal will be captain for the white ball matches with Nathan Sealy, the left-handed slow bowling allrounder, to lead the side for two red ball matches which conclude the Tour. The squad includes three players who played in the ICC Men’s U19 World Cup in 2022 which was hosted in the West Indies. They are: fast bowler Isai Thorne, allrounder Nathan Edward and left-handed batter Jordan Johnson.
Rohan Nurse, CWI’s Talent Pathway Manager is the Head Coach.
Robert Haynes, Lead Selector for the Rising Stars Men’s Under 19s said: “This is a very important tour to Sri Lanka for the development of this group of young cricketers. We have some excellent players in the squad who did very well in the recent West Indies Rising Stars Under 19s Championships in St. Vincent, and we believe they will continue to grow and develop on this upcoming tour.”
