Shakera Selman: 'Even the experienced West Indies players don't dominate regional cricket’ (Part 1)

In this two-part series, Selman talks about the state of the current Windies team as well as the challenges facing women’s cricket in the Caribbean 

Following her retirement in 2024, Shakera Selman has become a staple voice in the commentary box for Cricket West Indies. The former seamer also holds an administrative position in the game, after undertaking the role of Women’s Cricket Officer with the Barbados Cricket Association that same year. She shared her perspective on the different issues facing the West Indies team as well as those plaguing the women’s game in the region.

What do you make of the West Indian seamers struggling to threaten with the new ball?

It is a worry, but they have quality. We've seen what Chinelle Henry can do. And Aaliyah Alleyne has taken at least one wicket in the last 12 ODIs she's bowled in (before Wednesday). So she's obviously a threat as well. I don't think the West Indies utilize her in the best way; I think there is an opportunity for her to bowl with the new ball. I really hope that the think tank eventually sees that.

Deandra Dottin has skill, but you don't want to rely on her too much. She is an all-rounder, and you don't want to step into a game expecting Deandra to bowl ten overs or to take four or three wickets every game. There is the odd occasion that she'll take a wicket, and she's done wondrous stuff for the West Indies over the years, but the plans can't be around Deandra as a seamer.

So you're hoping that someone can partner with Henry from the other end. They identified Shawnisha Hector coming out of a good regional season, but it hasn't worked in these conditions (against Sri Lanka in Grenada). Jannillea Glasgow has not bowled for the series as yet. So there are options. 

I think the bigger picture is that seamers need to be given more opportunities to bowl more overs. We've relied too much on our spinners across conditions, and the only way our seamers are going to get better is by being given more opportunities.

As a former seamer, can you expound on the difficulties Henry might be having in replicating her T20 form with the ball in 50-over cricket?

I think the biggest issue is that she's not given the opportunity to bowl across phases. But let's stay with the new ball for now. To be frank, they felt she nicked off Chamari Athapaththu in the first game. The decision went against them, [but] they would have expected Chinelle to create more opportunities. One of the challenges for her in this series is that she's been bowling her overs to left-handers.

She's a lot better against right-handers, swinging the ball away. The biggest thing for me, though, is you’d want her to get wickets with the new ball. But I'd like to see the confidence in giving her [the ball] across phases. I want to see her come back in the middle, and I want to see her bowling at the death. 

She did it at the death for the Delhi Capitals in the recently concluded Women’s Premier League. Granted, that’s a different format, but it does show that she has the ability to bowl with the older ball, and I think that's the only way she's going to get better. She's grown, and you’d hope to see more. 

Qiana Joseph broke into this team as a bowler with enormous potential but hasn’t bowled much over the last few years. How do you read into Windies’ reluctance to utilize her?

I can only speculate that it has something to do with managing Qiana so that she is fit enough to produce with the bat. She started as a bowler, and then her batting got better. They feel she has a very big role to play with the bat. Fielding first for 50 overs and then asking her to open is always going to be a challenge for Qiana, as it would be for most players. Especially in very hot conditions in the Caribbean. So I suppose it's a case of managing her. 

She did have an injury during the last year or year and a half, which stopped her from bowling as often as she would have. And she's only just getting back into it, but she does bowl often in the Caribbean Premier League, and she bowls all the time for the Leeward Islands, but this level is a step up.

Whether or not they think she's still good enough to bowl at the international level and to bowl crucial overs is a good question. But I think she's a big part of the puzzle. You want a fit and firing Qiana Joseph in both departments. Especially as we look towards the coming T20 World Cup.  

Shabika Gajnabi and Aaliyah Alleyne are two players former head coach Courtney Walsh identified a while back for their potential with the bat, but they’ve only just now begun to look the part. Internationally, we find players like Suné Luus, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, and even Chinelle Henry, who have also taken years to find consistency. To what would you attribute this pattern?

I'm glad you used South Africans because there was a time when we perhaps felt we produced better cricketers than they did. And there was a time when we dominated them. Now they've surpassed the West Indies. So I'm glad you used Nadine de Klerk and Chloe Tryon. I think those two have been kind of limited and pigeonholed into being finishers, in a way. 

With Aaliyah Alleyne and Shabika Gajnabi, I think the West Indies, for a long time, have struggled to identify the roles best suited to those two. I completely agree that this (regional season) was the best we’ve seen Gajnabi play. I felt she played the spinners the best out of all the batters. But she's not part of the squad for this (Sri Lanka) tour. And it perhaps leaves Gajnabi confused as to what she needs to do. I often think that when some of these players aren't performing, they're selected. And then when they start to look as though they're just finding their feet, then the opportunities are taken away, or they're asked to play different roles. 

I have a really good relationship with Aaliyah, coming from Barbados. And I've always felt that the West Indies were never quite sure how to use her. And that's with bat and ball. She batted in the top order against New Zealand a few years ago and scored a 40-odd in one of the games, but when she “failed” the next game, she was sent back down the order. So I think if you're committing to these players, you have to give them an extended run to get better. 

Much like Suné Luus, she has been around for a very long time, and she's only now consistently performing for South Africa.

The West Indies had so much to be excited about coming out of the 2023 Under-19 Women’s World Cup given the potentials of Zaida James, Trishan Holder, and Djenaba Joseph. Can you pinpoint any reason why they are yet to separate themselves, even in domestic cricket? 

And that's a problem in the West Indies. Even the experienced West Indies players don't dominate regional cricket. I think that's a big issue. You expect that those names you called would at least be dominating regional cricket, so you then have a little confidence that they are ready to play at the next level. 

Trishan Holder has been up and down. We've seen glimpses of Djenaba Joseph. When I first saw Djenaba, I thought, “Whoa, this young girl's technique is quite good; she should be ahead of the other girls.” Whether it is that—and I feel very strongly about this—these players aren't exposed to good technical coaching, and that's what's letting them down, and whether or not we have enough of those in the Caribbean is another topic.

Obviously, it has been difficult for them when they're playing in challenging conditions that are not necessarily favourable for batters. You've heard the conversation around the pitches in the Caribbean. They are not very good, so they don't assist the batters. They make it very hard. And you want your young batters to get the opportunity to bat on good surfaces. So they build confidence. They can trust their techniques. They haven't been able to do that.

And I think those three would be particularly disappointed because now you see someone like Jannillea Glasgow, who started as a bowler, being able to get consecutive half-centuries and taking her opportunities. 

And specifically on James, arguably one of the most talented players we’ve had coming through in recent times? 

Zaida is an interesting one. I think West Indies missed a trick before that inaugural Under-19 World Cup. She was included in camps when she was a bit younger. And just as she was starting to grow, and a number of the senior players felt she was starting to improve, she was left out for a year or two. I think that has affected Zaida.

She did look good during that Under-19 World Cup, along with the other two you mentioned. And you expected a lot from them. It is disappointing that the three of them have failed to flatter recently. 

But Zaida was given lots of opportunities [in the senior setup]. I think she's another one who probably still hasn't figured out what her role is and what type of game they're asking her to play. She opened the batting, then she went down to the middle, and then she batted at nine. Sometimes in the tail as well. And now she's completely out of the ODI side, probably on the back of the lack of performances lately, but also the fact that she didn't perform regionally.

I don't think Djenaba or Trishan had any outstanding innings either. They got a few 20s or 30s, but nothing outstanding. And it is a disappointment because these are the batters that you're looking at to come through. You're looking for someone to bat in the middle overs but also as backup if Stafanie Taylor isn't fit or whenever she decides to walk away—or whenever Deandra decides to walk away. You want to know that you have young batters coming through. And that has been a challenge for the West Indies. 

Some would argue that if Zaida is being given opportunities at No. 3 & 4, then that's pretty good. Some of the best players in the world bat at 3 and 4. What Zaida will have to do is, whether or not it's her preferred position, take every opportunity. Most people have to do this when they're young. She'll have to take every opportunity to perform and then hope that if she performs consistently enough and well enough, they then put her in her preferred role. 

It is a challenge for the West Indies because you're kind of faced with trying to balance giving opportunities to youngsters and the ones that you think should come through to be good, but then you also want to win. I think Zaida will have to be a little more concerned with how she uses the opportunities she's given, not only at the highest level, but whenever there are regional competitions, and that's 50 over, T20, or CPL. She has to find a way to score runs and dominate those competitions.