(CMC) – West Indies Women have welcomed the return of former captain Stafanie Taylor and the recall of long-serving batsman Britney Cooper to a 16-member squad to play in a Twenty20 International tri-series against India and hosts South Africa from January 19 to 30 next year in East London.
The Windies Women were let down badly by their batting during a home series against England Women, all three One-day Internationals and five Twenty20 Internationals they contested in Antigua and Barbados.
Taylor, 31, was side-lined with injury for that series, and she was sorely missed. No other player has scored more than 3 121 runs at an average of 35.87 in 111 T20Is, and she needs only two more wickets for 100 with her off-spin.
Cooper, 33, has a far less impressive record, scoring only 608 runs at a paltry average of 11.25 in 73 T20Is, and she has not been a part of the Caribbean side’s plans for the past year in either the T20I or One-day International format. But lead selector Ann Browne-John said the pair could bring some stability back to the batting in the series, which will be their final tune-up for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 South Africa.
“The selection panel has named a squad that we believe has the talent and experience to compete against India and South Africa,” Browne-John said in a Cricket West Indies news release yesterday.
“Our batting in the most recent series was less than par against a very good England bowling attack. We believe that with the return of some experienced batters, they will the able to support captain Hayley Matthews at the top of the order.”
Also returning to the squad after recovering from injury are long-serving pacers Shamilia Connell and Shakera Selman.
“(They) will fortify the pace attack with Chinelle Henry, Cherry Ann Fraser, and Aaliyah Alleyne,” Browne-John added.
“The team had commendable performances in South Africa in early 2022, and we know that the entire team will be drawing on that experience as they take on the home team and India in this tri-series and then potentially again at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup also in South Africa.”
The Windies Women will play each of the other two teams twice, and the two leading teams after the preliminary matches will face each other in the final on February 2. All matches in the tri-series will be played at Buffalo Park.
West Indies Women will also play a warm-up match against the South Africans ahead of the tri-series on January 16 at Beacon Bay. The eighth edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup starts on February 10, and the Windies Women West Indies have been drawn in Group 2 with England Women, India Women, Pakistan Women, and Ireland Women .
Final squads for the World Cup must be submitted by February 2.
Newlands in Cape Town, Boland Park in Paarl, and St George’s Park in Gqeberha are the host venues for the tournament, with both the semi-finals on February 23 and 24, and the final on February 26 will be played at Newlands .
Squad: Hayley Matthews (captain), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Britney Cooper, Chedean Nation, Cherry Ann Fraser, Afy Fletcher, Shabika Gajnabi, Sheneta Grimmond, Chinelle Henry, Karishma Ramharack, Kaysia Schultz, Shakera Selman, Stafanie Taylor, and Rashada Williams.
TRI-SERIES MATCH SCHEDULE
(All matches to be played at Buffalo Park in East London, South Africa; start times in brackets – quoted in East Caribbean Time)
January
19: South Africa Women vs India Women (1 p.m. start)
21: South Africa Women vs West Indies Women (9 a.m.)
23: India vs West Indies Women (1 p.m.)
25: South Africa Women vs West Indies Women (9 a.m.)
28: South Africa Women vs India Women (1 p.m.)
30: West Indies Women vs India Women (9 a.m.)
February
2: Final (9 a.m.)