ST JOHN’S, Antigua – The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Women’s Selection Panel has announced the 13-member squad for the first and second T20 Internationals (T20Is) against New Zealand Women to be played on Wednesday 28 September and Saturday 1 October at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Sheneta Grimmond returns to the West Indies Women’s squad since last playing against South Africa Women in September 2021. The right-arm off-spinner comes into the squad to replace all-rounder Stafanie Taylor, who is ruled out of the first two T20I matches after retiring hurt in the third and final CG United ODI on Sunday 25 September. Grimmond had an impressive showing in the 6ixty and Massy Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) with her team, the Trinbago Knight Riders, taking four wickets in the 6ixty and three wickets in the WCPL.
Lead Selector for Women’s Selection Panel, Ann Browne-John said: “In the CG United ODI series, there were some very promising performances. The victory in the final match showed a lot of grit and determination. Aaliyah Alleyne, who was included for the final match, shone both with bat and ball.”
THE descent of West Indies cricket will be tested in the T20 World Cup competition 2022, which blasts off on October 16 with the battle of two groups of the weaker eight teams. The first- and second-placed in both groups will confront the other eight sides that have already qualified through having already accumulated enough points to establish themselves in the top bracket of cricket teams globally.
The tournament to settle top priority in the T20 format will take place in Australia. It is sad to reflect that the West Indies cricket team, championship winners as recently as 2012 and 2016, have taken a nose-dive, plummeting to the depths, to an area where they have to fight with other teams that are referred to as minnows.
These are the minor groups:
1) Sri Lanka, UAE, Namibia, Netherlands.
2) WI, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Ireland.
The top two teams in each group will proceed to the higher bracket of teams, which consists of Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and South Africa.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — Fast bowling legend Sir Andy Roberts has bemoaned the lack of "settled unit" ahead of next month's Twenty20 World Cup, and believes West Indies will not find it "easy" to qualify for the main draw of the tournament.
The 71-year-old, also a former selector, said the West Indies 15-man squad announced for the October 16 to November 13 campaign reflected too much chopping and changing at this advanced stage of preparations.
As evidence, he pointed to the inclusion of uncapped all-rounders Yannic Cariah and Raymon Reifer, batsman Johnson Charles – who has not featured for West Indies in six years – and fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell, who has not played a T20 International in seven months.
"When you're preparing, you're preparing months ahead and you try to settle on a team that goes out on the field from the first game," Sir Andy told Starcom Radio's Mason and Guest cricket programme.
West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has risen to number one on the ICC’s latest women’s All-rounder rankings in One-Day Internationals.
The Barbadian most recently led the Windies in a home ODI series against New Zealand which they lost 2-1.
Matthews scored 88 runs in the three games, the most for West Indies, and also picked up five wickets, which took her to the No. 1 position on the allrounders' table, a jump of three positions past Australia’s Ellyse Perry, England’s Nat Sciver and South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp.
The 24-year-old Matthews has so far played 72 ODIs since her debut in 2014, scoring 1852 runs at an average of 27.23 with three hundreds and six fifties. She also has 83 wickets at an average of 24.27 with three four-wicket hauls.
Leeward Islands won the Rising Stars Under-19 Championship presented by Winlott which was played in St Vincent. The Windward Islands won the Rising Stars Under-17 Championship held in Trinidad and Barbados captured the Rising Stars Under-15 Championship which was hosted by the Grenada Cricket Association.
Six players feature on both the Under-17 and Under-19 teams of the tournament, left-handed allrounder Nathan Edward who also led the Leewards to the Rising Stars Under-19 Championship title, openers Rampertab Ramnath and Stephan Pascal, as well as batters Jordan Johnson, Joshua Dorne and Mavendra Dindyal.
Jordan and Edward were members of the West Indies Rising Stars U-19 team which played in the ICC Mens U19 Cricket World Cup, hosted in the Caribbean by CWI earlier this year. Other members of that West Indies World Cup squad: batter Ackeem Auguste; allrounder Johann Layne; wicket-keeper Carlon Bowen-Tuckett; fast bowler Isai Thorne and off-spinner Onaje Amory were also named in the Rising Stars Under-19 Championship team of the tournament.
