Head Coach of the West Indies women’s team, Courtney Walsh, is calling for his unit to step its game up in order to reach the pinnacle of the sport.
The former West Indies fast bowler made this declaration during a Zoom conference on Tuesday as the side began its first training camp for 2021.
“In terms of ability and talent we have it but our work ethic has to step up, our physical has to step up and all round, our entire approach to the game has to step up because I mean right around everyone has crept and gone above us so we now have to play catch up,” the head coach declared. Walsh noted that the 2016 International Cricket Council World T20 champions’ current ranking of sixth in the world, does not do the team justice.
“I think we can be higher than that and we have to be higher than that,” he said.
The Jamaican explained that he noticed a few areas where the team has fallen down since then and is prepared to lay down the work to remedy the situation.
“I think with my short stint with them, confidence, self-belief and improving in all areas have sort of fallen down a little bit. It’s obvious to see and a lot of work is going to be required to get us back to where we can be,” Walsh stated. With the camp kick-starting preparation for the World Cup Qualifiers in June-July in Sri Lanka, Walsh has a clear vision of what he wants to accomplish from now and despite a setback, he remains focused on the job at hand.
“Well I actually have a clear idea of what I want to do from now. I actually wanted this camp to be from November based on what I had planned and what I was thinking of doing but that wasn’t the case so we have to be flexible with what’s going on with the pandemic and stuff like that,” he stated.
He added, “This camp is really crucial in terms of getting a look and also in laying some ground rules that we have to adhere and start our progress moving forward so in a sense of short term or long term, I am really looking forward to set the foundation going forward in West Indies cricket and women’s cricket and, as you know, the sport is evolving and we want to put a template in place that can be a good guideline for the ladies currently playing now and hopefully we can get a few youngsters coming down the road in a few months’ time.”
Once the camp is completed, Walsh explained that it’s back to the drawing board where they will do their assessment and have individual programmes tailored for the players.
He remains hopeful of another camp and a tour to a subcontinent country prior to the Qualifiers.
