ST JOHN’S, Antigua — The West Indies Cricket Board on Monday announced a 17-member West Indies Women’s squad to prepare for a series of One-day and Twenty20 Internationals next month against England and New Zealand.
Commenting on the squad, Chairman of the West Indies Selection Committee Clyde Butts said the squad comprises many of the players that have done well for the West Indies Women over the past year.
“Many of the players have shown that they are capable at international level and they performed during the Regional Women’s tournaments last month in Grenada,” he said.
“We now expect them to push on and start to score more runs and show greater competence, but I think the squad is sound and will give play well during the upcoming series.”
Right-handed batter Chinelle Henry is the only uncapped player in the squad and left-handed all-rounder Stacy Ann King has been recalled after missing recent engagements.
“Chinelle is a capable player and strikes the ball very nicely,” said Butts. “We expect some good things from her in the future. She has been around the Jamaica team for a long time, but she is still very young.
“Stacy Ann showed during the Regional Women’s tournaments that she is still capable of playing at the international level and her bowling has also improved. She is also one of our best fielders, so we still feel that she has a lot to offer to the team and we can’t write her off.”
The Windies Women’s training camp takes place from September 22 to 30 in Jamaica and the final squad of 13 for the series against the New Zealanders will be chosen when it is completed.
Butts said he expected that the matches against New Zealand and England will be tough, but would be critical to the development of the team.
“Our team needs this sort of rivalry,” he said. “We have always wanted to play against England, New Zealand and Australia more often and it will be good for them to play against such tough and skilled opponents.
“To have two of the three top women’s teams playing in the Caribbean will do a lot for women’s cricket and I expect our team to be ready and able to be competitive against them.”