CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, CMC – West Indies clash with Australia in their opening warm-up game of the ICC Women’s World Cup here today, with Stafanie Taylor urging her side to manage their nerves as they put the finishing touches on their preparation for the showpiece.
Only half of the squad featured at the last 50-over tournament staged in England four years ago, with selectors opting for several young players to complement an otherwise experienced unit.
“I think it is seeing how best we can manage those nerves. I think it is natural to have those nerves and when you do, it’s all about that you want to do well so it’s ok,” Taylor explained.
“It’s just about how best to manage those nerves. You don’t want them to be all over the place, you want to make sure they’re going in one direction.
“We haven’t played Australia in such a long time so I don’t know the difference from when we played them [then] to how they’re playing now.
“[This match] is just to get a feel [of conditions], not to focus too much on them but the areas you want to do well in.”
The match, which bowls off Saturday evening Eastern Caribbean time, is one of two warm-up fixtures for the Caribbean side, the second game scheduled against powerhouses India on Tuesday.
West Indies have a tough opening assignment for the group stage when they come up against hosts New Zealand in Turanga on Friday.
In fact, they face a difficult opening run, meeting reigning champions England in their second game before taking on India and Australia in their next two fixtures.
An even though pundits have not pencilled West Indies in as serious title challengers, Taylor said her squad were comfortable with the label of outsiders.
“We don’t mind being the underdogs. I think it is good we don’t get too ahead of ourselves and people looking on and [saying] ‘West Indies are the team to look out for’,” said Taylor.
“I think people look at the fact that we’re not a strong 50-over team but I find that we’ve been getting better and that’s a plus for us.”
She continued: “I think we had a really good series in Pakistan [last November]. The World Cup qualifiers didn’t go as well [as we wanted them to] and we went to South Africa and even though we lost the series, I think looking back I found there were some areas that we did really well in.”
Taylor, the side’s leading stroke-maker, will be joined by the experienced likes of Deandra Dottin and Hayley Matthews in the batting department, and hopes the duo can extend their prolific recent form.
“There had players who stepped up to the plate [in South Africa] and did well,” Taylor said.
“Deandra is one of those players. She’s in really good form and I hope that that form continues for us, and Hayley Matthews as well.
“And even the bowlers are chipping in so as I said we’re in a really good place.”
