ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC- All-rounder Britney Cooper, leg-spinner Shaquana Quintyne and wicketkeeper batswoman Kycia Knight have been recalled to the West Indies squad for the ICC Women’s Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka next month.
Cooper has made a full recovery after suffering a fractured finger earlier this year and scored an unbeaten half-century for Trinidad and Tobago against Dominica in the Regional Women’s Twenty20 tournament this month.
Teenaged leg-spinner Quintyne and opening batswoman/wicket-keeper Knight are back after missing the series against Sri Lanka due to studies.
The team is again led by inspirational captain Merissa Aguilleira, who has been at the helm for three years as the Windies have made a steady climb up the ICC rankings.
The windies women’s cricket team currently sits 5th in the ICC Twenty20 rankings after England, Australia, New Zealand and India.
The Vice Captain is Stafanie Taylor the leading all-rounder in Women’s cricket.
Taylor was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, scoring a chart-topping 409 runs at an average of 81.80 and joint team high of 13 wickets at 6.15 apiece at the just ended women’s twenty20 in Jamaica.
The squad also includes several other world-rated players: off-spinner Anisa Mohammed, left-handed all-rounder Shanel Daley, fast bowler Shakera Selman and world record-holder Deandra Dottin.
Dottin, a right-handed batswoman and right-arm fast-medium bowler has the distinction of scoring the first century in a women’s Twenty20 International in 2010.
The Windies Women will play a five match twenty20 international series against England women as a prelude to the women’s world twenty20.
Aguilleira’s women will start with the first two games at the Durham ICG and Old Trafford, on September 8 and 10 respectively.
The other matches will be played at the County Ground, Northampton (September 13), County Ground, Hove (September 15) and at the Arundel Cricket Club in Sussex (September 16).
The West Indies have been drawn in Group B of the ICC World T20 Tournament with Ireland and Australia.
The tournament is set to bowl off in Galle on September 26.
FULL SQUAD:Merissa Aguilleira (Captain/wicket-keeper),
Stafanie Taylor (Vice Captain),Shemaine Campbelle,
Britney Cooper, Shanel Daley,Deandra Dottin, Stacy-Ann King, Kycia Knight (Wicket-keeper), Anisa Mohammed, Subrina Munroe, Juliana Nero, Shaquana Quintyne, Shakera Selman, Tremayne Smart.