The West Indies ladies have certainly made the Caribbean proud with their entry into the final of the ICC Women’s World cup after defeating powerhouse Australia yesterday.
Two Guyanese are on the team—Tremayne Smartt and Shemaine Campbell—both of whom played in yesterday’s historic match.
In an attempt to put this historic moment into perspective, Stabroek Sport reached out to two familiar faces in local cricket, Emily Dodson, former president of the Guyana Women’s Cricket Association (GCA) and former national player Abeina Parker.
“I expected them to do it, they are a talented bunch of girls. I know Stafanie Taylor personally. She came to Guyana as a 12-year-old when Guyana hosted the West Indies Cricket Federation Tournament in 2002 and ever since then she showed a lot of talent. The captain [Merissa Aguilleira] also is very talented. [Then there is] the fast bowler from Guyana Tremayne Smartt and Campbelle [Shemaine] has been doing some batting,” Dodson said.
Parker could not contain her excitement. “I am pretty happy that they have made it into the final. Despite how things are bad we still back them 100 per cent. I am also happy that some of our players are doing pretty well. Smartt is there, but Campbelle seems to be a permanent fixture on the team. Also they did fairly well, compared to the males. We can be better than any team and we can stand up to any team anywhere,” Parker enthused.
Dodson said now that the women are in the final she hopes that the match is televised. “…ESPN advertised that they are showing it but some people with E-Networks said they are not seeing it. I get text commentary from cricinfo.”
Similar sentiments were expressed by Parker who lives on the East Bank Demerara and does not have access to E-Networks. She said this was a challenge for her, since she is always interested in what the Guyanese players are doing on the team.
However despite their excitement that West Indies women are into the final and that local stars are part of the process, they said more needs to be done for the development of cricket locally and the region.
Dodson, an attorney by profession, said that though her comments might be viewed as controversial she was nevertheless making them. “I don’t think that the West Indies Cricket Board [WICB] put as much as it could into the development of women’s cricket. I think more of the ladies should get retainer contracts,” she said.
She was also of the view that with more tournaments, the women can do much better. The WICB has failed to run age group tournaments for the women in the region.
“The last under-19 tournament, Guyana won it and that was at least three or four years ago. So the WICB needs to run age groups tournaments for women, they should have under-15, under-9 and even perhaps under-23, because they do that for the men.
The men’s version [of the game[ has under -15 and under- 19, because that is the only way you are going to be able to develop. Next four or five years those ladies will have to look ahead, to get married, those who are not yet married as yet and in as much as I look for gender equity and equality when women get married they can’t be running up and down playing cricket.”
Dodson said there is need for new talent and having the age group tournaments is the only way to draft that talent. “As for Guyana I don’t know what is happening when it comes to women. I don’t know how many clubs in Guyana have women’s team. Years ago, Police used to have a team, Malteenoes used to have a team and in Berbice they were like two or three teams. I don’t know what is going on in Berbice now. I don’t know if Police still have a team, but I know for sure Malteenoes does not have a team.”
She said too that the women have earned the right to have retainer contracts. “There is better equality in retainer contracts, in terms of how they are paid. They probably get paid less than 50% than what the men get. If you look at [games] like tennis, there is more parity in payment and they can’t say that women don’t play as well as the men because … [when] Stafanie Taylor gets going she could bat as well as any of the players in the men’s team.”
The former GCA president said too that with the number of men involved in the sport, she does not believe they understand the needs of women.
“Once there was an under-19 team that they took to the hostel in Essequibo. When the manager went there, the first thing the manager had to tell them is ‘these girls can’t stay in there because there are no curtains’. So all these men looking at this hostel all the time don’t understand that you can’t put women in a place where there are no blinds,” she said. “How are they going to change their clothes? And even if you look at some of the facilities in Guyana where perhaps they take the women to play; [they] are not gender sensitive, in terms of bathroom facilities and all of that.”
Parker, like Dodson, said there is need for greater development in women’s cricket and that does not only apply to Guyana, but all Caribbean territories.
“Caribbean associations need to work with the players. If they work with their own country players, give them more credit and the push that we ought to have, then you are going to have better cricket,” Parker said.
Parker is one of the vocal activists fighting for the improvement of female cricket in Guyana. Last year, she was among of group of players who spoke out on the injustices meted out to female cricketers locally.
