LEICESTER, England, CMC – If West Indies Women are to have any impact on the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup here, much of the responsibility will rest on the senior players.
Veteran off-spinner Anisa Mohammed said the senior figures in the squad needed to make their years of experience count in order to turn the Caribbean side into serious contenders in the June 24 to July 23 tournament.
“Definitely all of the senior players [will have to perform],” said the 28-year-old.
“Most of us have been around for quite a while. We know that the junior ones will be looking up to us and they’ll be looking to us for support and once everybody sticks to their game plan and just go out and execute on the day – one day at a time – I am pretty sure that it will be a team effort at the end of the day.”
Mohammed is one of the most senior players in the squad with 101 One-Day International and 89 Twenty20s. She also featured in the last World Cup campaign four years ago when the Windies reached the final and was part of the successful squad which captured the T20 World Cup in India last year.
The Trinidadian has taken over 100 wickets in each format – 136 in ODIs and 104 in T20s – making her the most experienced bowler in the side.
She is joined by the likes of captain Stafanie Taylor and all-rounder Deandra Dottin who have both played 98 ODIs and former skipper Merissa Aguilleira who has played 96 one-dayers.
Mohammed said the preparation camp in Southampton over the last three weeks had also helped the side tremendously, especially in acclimatising to the unpredictable English weather, and the squad now appeared ready for the World Cup campaign.
“I think the weather has been really generous to us us lately. We’ve been getting some really good weather conditions,” Mohammed said.
“There could be times when it can get a bit cold but it is not as cold as when we were in New Zealand a couple years ago but I think the girls are acclimatised to the conditions.”
West Indies Women face Pakistan in their first official ICC warm-up game on Tuesday here before taking South Africa two days later in the second and final game in Oakham just outside of Leicester.
They face reigning champions Australia Women in their opening match of the campaign on June 26 in Taunton.
