WI Women set sights on upcoming series against NZ

WEST INDIES Women will face New Zealand (NZ) Women from September 16 to October 6 as the Hayley Matthews-led team embarks on their first series since reaching the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s World Cup earlier this year.

Head coach of the team, Courtney Walsh, expects a close series.

“Well, obviously it’s going to be a tight series. We did well against New Zealand in New Zealand and they’ll obviously be coming here to play good cricket. They are a very good team who are ranked above us, so it will be a good test for us,” said Walsh.

The upcoming series will mark the first assignment for newly appointed captain Matthew who replaced Stafanie Taylor at the helm. West Indies Women will be without the services of hard-hitting Barbadian all-rounder Deandra Dottin who surprisingly announced her retirement earlier this month. Dottin had an international career that spanned 14 years.

Despite the challenges both on and off the field, coach Walsh has called for support of captain Matthews.

“A new captain will be at the helm, so we have to give her all the support and it will be interesting to see how everyone responds to the new captain and the new ideas that we have,” Walsh added.

Walsh, a former West Indies captain, said as a coaching unit they will be using the series as a guide towards the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup, scheduled for South Africa in 2023.

“We will have probably two tours before the next T20 World Cup, so I think it’s very important for us to start planning and looking to get things sorted for that,” he added.

The series against New Zealand will include three One-Day Internationals and five T20s and Walsh added that he thinks his unit is more than ready to compete.

The West Indies Women’s coach said they are looking to win every series as that’s the only way they are going to improve their ranking but pointed out that as long as the players give 100 per cent, he will be satisfied with that.

orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com