Ann Brownjohn

Newly appointed captain Hayley Matthews leads the squad which sees the return of the experienced Natasha McLean.

The squad was selected with the consideration of performances in the recently concluded Skyexch 6ixty and the Massy Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) tournaments.

A match-day squad of 13 players will be selected ahead of each CG United ODI.

The CG United ODI Series is scheduled for September 16, 18 and 22 with matches starting at 9.30 am local time, 8.30 am Jamaica time. The T20 Internationals (T20Is) are scheduled for September 25 to October 6. All of the T20Is will start at 1.30 pm local time, 12:30 pm Jamaica time, other than the 4th T20I on Tuesday, October 4 which will start at 10.00 am local time, 9.00 am Jamaica time.

For the CG United ODI Series, West Indies will be looking to build on the progress after reaching the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year.

The team will then look to the five T20I matches as part of their preparations for the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa in January.

Mandy Mangru and Kaysia Schultz have also joined the players in Antigua for a 10-day training camp led by Head Coach Courtney Walsh.

“The New Zealand series is very important on the women’s cricket landscape not only because it starts a new cycle, but also because it is part of the preparation leading towards the T20 World Cup in South Africa,” said CWI’s Lead Selector for women’s cricket, Ann Browne-John.

“With a few senior players unavailable at this time, for different reasons, like the experienced Anisa Mohammed, Kycia Knight and recently retired Deandra Dottin, the selectors were still able to get a blend of senior and developing players including Under-19 player Jannillea Glasgow and returning players Natasha McLean and Sheneta Grimmond.

“Ultimately, we believe that captain Hayley Matthews, in her first series, will have a promising squad of players to start building with.”

All eight matches will be streamed live on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel. Live ball-by-ball scoring will also be available on the ​ www.windiescricket.com Match Centre.

Full squad: Hayley Matthews (captain), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Afy Fletcher, Cherry Ann Fraser, Shabika Gajnabi, Jannillea Glasgow, Sheneta Grimmond, Chinelle Henry, Kyshona Knight, Natasha McLean, Chedean Nation, Karishma Ramharack, Shakera Selman, Stafanie Taylor and Rashada Williams.

Match schedule

All matches at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium

 CG United ODI Series

Friday 16 September: 1st CG United ODI, 9:30 am Eastern Caribbean/8:30 am Jamaica Time

Sunday 18 September: 2nd CG United ODI, 9:30 am Eastern Caribbean/8:30 am Jamaica Time

Thursday 22 September: 3rd CG United ODI, 9:30 am Eastern Caribbean/8:30 am Jamaica Time

T20I Series

Sunday 25 September: 1st T20I, 1:30pm Eastern Caribbean/12:30pm Jamaica time

Wednesday 28 September: 2nd T20I, 1:30pm Eastern Caribbean/12:30pm Jamaica time

Saturday 1 October: 3rd T20I, 1:30pm Eastern Caribbean/12:30pm Jamaica time

Tuesday 4 October: 4th T20I, 10:00am Eastern Caribbean/9:00am Jamaica Time

Thursday 6 October: 5th T20I, 1:30pm Eastern Caribbean/12:30pm Jamaica time

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It was an issue they had planned to begin addressing during the regional women’s and U19 tournaments that were cancelled earlier this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the recent five-match tour of England, the Caribbean women were swept 5-0 in a woefully lop-sided series. Only Deandra Dottin walked away with her head held high scoring 185 runs at an average of 37 over the five matches. She also bowled well despite nursing a sore shoulder.

No other batter made 100 runs during the series. Captain Stafanie Taylor with 78 runs was the only player to come close while Hayley Matthews was the next best having scored 38 runs, 21 of them coming in a single inning. Other than Dottin and Taylor, no other batter had a double-digit average, an area of great concern for Browne-John.

“Most definitely, and we have recognized that fact,” she said while speaking on Sportsnation Live on Nationwide Radio in Jamaica on Saturday night.

She indicated that this was a concern that the selectors had been discussing for some time and which they had planned to begin looking into with the regional tournaments this year.

“Unfortunately, we were not able to have a regional senior or U19 tournament this year but that is something we have discussed as selectors; that we now have to start looking for the next group of players, the group that would normally be like an ‘A’ team or an U19 team. So we have to start finding that group of players and start nurturing that group,” she said.

Brown-John said the selectors had hoped that there would have been a “vibrant” U19 tournament as there was supposed to be an U19 World Cup in early 2021. “So, we were looking towards that tournament to find some talent and we were also hoping for the regional tournament to look, particularly for batters because that is the area in which we are struggling most,” she said.

“It was also mentioned that we don’t have left-hand batters in our top order, we have to pick somebody who is left-handed and who is performing, so that is another consideration.”

The selectors were also hoping to unearth a specific type of bowler as well, the lead selector revealed.

“We have a great number of offspinners but we only have one leg spinner in Afy Fletcher, but we don’t have a large number of left-arm orthodox bowlers,” she said. “When we go out, every team we face we come up against left-arm orthodox. We have to look for that kind of player in the Caribbean.”