Courtney Walsh

Bowling with express pace, Taylor had the uncanny ability to cut the ball back into the right-hander, which had many predicting a long and fruitful international career. Taylor made his debut for the West Indies in a One Day International (ODI) in St. Vincent, against Sri Lanka, and did well enough, taking 2 for 39 from 10 overs. He made his Test debut nine days later on June 20, in St. Lucia, against the same opposition. He was just 18.

Years later, however, injury, illness, and some indifferent form saw his appearances for the West Indies become mostly sporadic.  He had a consistent run after returning from injury in 2014, and prior to him retiring from Tests in July 2016 but he never delivered on early potential.

“The first time I saw Jerome Taylor I was excited, but this longevity wasn’t there.  The one thing I kept saying to him is just I don’t think he was patient enough,” Walsh told the Mason and Guest radio program.

“He was a much better bowler than the stats show, but he wasn’t patient enough.  In my estimation, that’s why he didn’t do as well as he could have or should have in Test cricket.  He was one of the most promising players I saw.”

Taylor ended his career with a haul of 150 Test wickets.

This will be the second such month-long camp in 2021 assembled under the guidance of Head Coach Courtney Walsh and his support team.

With the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers now rescheduled for December, Coach Walsh has devised a programme to maximize team preparations ahead of international cricket and the qualifiers later in the year.

“The purpose of this camp is to work on consistency and game awareness. The last camp was more observational, and we got a pretty good idea of where the ladies are at. There are 30 players coming in and a few of them are coming in nursing injuries, so the coaching staff and medical team are ready to work with all of them,” he said.

“We are going to use this camp to see as much of the players as possible. I am most excited to see the younger ones coming into the camp because we’re trying to build the pool of players available. So, I think it’ll be a great opportunity for these youngsters and the other new players to grasp the chance before them.”

Among the 30 players called up for the camp are eight (8) uncapped players including teenagers Zaida James from St. Lucia and Jannillea Glasgow from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. James is a left-arm medium-pacer while Glasgow is a right-arm medium pacer.

The other uncapped players are Rashada Williams, Caneisha Isaac, Shanika Bruce, Mandy Mangru and Rachel Vincent. Making a return to the camp is left-handed wicket-keeper/batter Kycia Knight.

CWI’s Lead Selector for Women’s cricket, Ann Browne-John was excited by the bigger pool of players for this camp.

 “It is very important to have the West Indies players back in a training camp as the coaches can continue to help them hone their skills as we prepare for our next series. Most of the top international teams have now restarted playing and it is critical for the WI team to prepare as we anticipate more international cricket coming up this summer,” she said while indicating that the camp will also focus on specific areas for development.

“In an effort to continue to unearth talent, eight players have been included who were not in the January camp. It serves as an opportunity for the coaches and selectors to look at some of the young up and coming players. Due to the pandemic, a regional tournament has not been held yet, so the players haven’t had the opportunity to impress the selectors in competitive matches.

“Heavy emphasis has been placed on batters including first-timers Rachel Vincent, an opening batter from Trinidad and Tobago, and Mandy Mangru, a young player from Guyana who has been impressive in the Under-19 tournament. The camp also includes two young teenage medium pacers, Zaida James and Jannillea Glasgow.”

Cricket West Indies (CWI) has been working closely with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Sport in Antigua & Barbuda to orchestrate logistics and agree on the safety protocols for the camp after the successful hosting of the first Women’s high-performance camp, the CG Insurance Super50 Cup and the West Indies Men’s International Home Series against Sri Lanka. All players and support staff were tested with negative COVID-19 results before their arrival in Antigua. The players and support staff will train and live in a bio-secure bubble for the duration of the camp.

Full squad: Aaliyah Alleyne, Reniece Boyce, Shanika Bruce, Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Britney Cooper, Deandra Dottin, Cherry Ann Fraser, Shabika Gajnabi, Jannillea Glasgow, Sheneta Grimmond, Shawnisha Hector, Chinelle Henry, Caneisha Isaac, Zaida James, Japhina Joseph, Qiana Joseph, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Mandy Mangru, Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed, Chedean Nation, Karishma Ramharack, Kaysia Schultz, Shakera Selman, Steffi Soogrim, Stafanie Taylor, Rachel Vincent and Rashada Williams.

The team-management unit comprises Courtney Walsh - Head Coach; Sheena Gooding - Team Manager; Ryan Austin - Assistant Coach; Corey Collymore - Assistant Coach; Steve Liburd - Assistant Coach; Samantha Lynch - Assistant Coach; Robert Samuels - Assistant Coach; Neil Barry – Physiotherapist; Shayne Cooper - Strength & Conditioning

Speaking in an interview with Andrew Mason, Walsh, who was appointed as head coach in October 2020 after previously serving as assistant coach to Gus Logie, expressed his confidence and outlined that while the team has played well in stages, they still haven’t put it all together.

“I’m very confident. I think the team deserves to be in the semis. We’ve played some very good cricket while we’ve been here and we still haven’t put it together as a team like we know we can do so this will be the right game to get that started so I’m pretty confident that once we execute and play to our potential, we’ll have a very good game,” he said.

The West Indies got a few days rest after their last game against South Africa last Wednesday, something Walsh says has done the team well.

“We had a couple days away from it which has done us some good. It’s the first break we’ve had since the start of the competition so we had a couple of days where some of the main players were not required to come to practice to give them a chance to recover and the girls who weren’t playing much cricket had a chance to come out and get some decent practice as well. We’re in a good space at the moment,” he said.

“There’s no major concern. We know the areas that we haven’t done well in and the coaches have been trying very hard to get everybody up to speed,” was Walsh’s response when asked about any concerns he had going into the semi-final.

The West Indies will be aiming to advance to their second Women's World Cup final after finishing as runners-up in 2013 in India.

He also revealed that there are concerns about the fitness of opener Deandra Dottin, who suffered an injury in the match against India but remained hopeful she will be fit to face Australia.

It was a disappointed Walsh that faced the media on Monday when he conceded that the West Indies Women did not play well against India.

“We had one really bad game against India. I think India did pretty well against us and it’s something that we have to look at,” Walsh said, adding that India should not have scored as many as the 317-8 they put on the board before bowling the West Indies Women out for 162.

“It was not a 320 pitch I think; when I looked at it. I thought if we could restrict them to 270-250. We didn’t execute as well as we could have or should have.”

In reply, the West Indies Women got off to a good start reaching 100-0 in the 13^th over before everything went off the rails.

“It was a decent batting track, I thought, at the start of it and they did make full use of it. They’ve got a little bit more turn as the game went on. But that doesn’t make it any issue is we just executed poorly (sic)," Walsh said.

"The team knows that once you play well enough, we can beat any team, so we are hopeful we are going to play good cricket [on Tuesday]."

After bowling England out for 260, the West Indies Women were skittled out for a 118 in just 31.3 overs to lose by 142 runs, a similar margin to the loss in the first ODI on Sunday in which England made 307-7 and then bowled the home side out for 165.

The result means England takes an unassailable 2-0 lead in the CG United One Day International series.

“In both games we haven’t batted well,” Walsh said after Tuesday’s humiliating defeat. “We were a lot better with the ball in this game on a good batting track and for the score where we had them at 260, I thought we would have batted better.”

Walsh reserved praise for Rashada Williams, who stood out among the batters.

“We lost those early wickets and just never recovered,” he said.

“The batters can take a lot from Rashada’s performance. I am pleased with how she went about it and showed that it can be done. We have a lot at stake with one game remaining and we need to get championship points. Our momentum is good but performance and execution, we have to try and get better.”

Batting first, England owed their competitive score to Amy Jones, who scored an unbeaten 70 and Sophia Dunkley’s unbeaten 57 as the local bowlers restricted England’s ability to build big partnerships.

Leading from the front Hayley Matthews took 3-50 and was supported by Afy Fletcher, who returned figures of 2-41 and Aaliyah Alleyne 2-47.

The West Indies Women’s reply got off to a disastrous start losing four wickets inside the first four overs with just eight runs on the board.

Williams offered the only real resistance with an unbeaten 54 that allowed the West Indies Women to push past 100 runs. Chedean Nation and Chinelle Henry with scores of 17 and 13, respectively, were the only other batters in double figures as Lauren Bell wreaked havoc taking 4-33.

Charlie Dean took 2-9 and there were also two wickets each for Sophie Ecclestone (2-25) and Kate Cross (2-35) in the rout.

The teams meet again on Friday, December 9 at the same venue.

In their opening match against the hosts on March 4, the West Indies scored 259-9 thanks mainly to Hayley Matthews’ sublime 119. However, Dottin who opened the innings with her, made only 12 while Taylor scored 30.

In the second match against England on March 9, Dottin made 31 and Taylor 0 as the West Indies made 225-6. In that match that the West Indies dramatically won by seven runs, it was Shemaine Campbelle’s 66 and Chedean Nation’s unbeaten 49 that spurred the West Indies to their winning total.

However, despite the relative lack of runs from two of the big three, Head Coach Courtney Walsh said he was not overly concerned about the misfiring duo expressing confidence that they will eventually come good.

“In the two games we have played we have gotten competitive scores. Obviously,  you would want to see Stafanie firing and a Diandra firing but if they can fire at the right time for us while Hayley and the others are carrying the batting, then that is good, so I am not much perturbed their chance will come and when it comes you want them to step up,” Walsh said during a media session Wednesday.

“So it’s good when the like of Campbelle and Nation can step up to the plate and prove their worth. I would like for Kycia Knight to get a decent score as well to give her some confidence. She came into the competition with some runs from the previous tour and in the warm-up games so I think she just needs a decent score to give her some confidence and if we can get that then the batting would be showing a lot more solidarity, but I am not overly concerned.”

What is troubling the fast-bowling great turned coach is the number of catches the West Indies Women have put down in their two matches so far. As many as nine catches have been floored by the Caribbean women, some of which have proved costly.

Chinelle Henry dropped New Zealand middle-order batter Sophie Devine early in her innings and the player capitalized in the best possible way scoring 108. Henry eventually redeemed herself when she caught Devine off her own bowling to pave the way for the West Indies' narrow three-run win.

Walsh admitted Wednesday that the number of dropped catches is a worry.

“I am a little more concerned about the number of dropped catches because can’t keep dropping so many catches, it might come back to haunt us and hurt us,” he said.

“We have taken some fantastic ones as well so we don’t want to write that off but I am a little more concerned about the catches we have been putting down; if it’s the conditions or we’re just not backing ourselves but I think the effort they have shown in yesterday’s game, even though we still put down a couple, it shows that they are still committed to trying to take these catches and I am happy with that.

“It might be a little bit cold on the fingers but we have to do what we have to do when we get out to play.”

“

According to the former West Indies fast bowler turned coach, the upskilling of the women will be a continuation of what began when the women were called to camp in January this year.

Over the past few years, West Indies Women, world champions in 2016, has fallen down the pecking order in world cricket, struggling to make high scores when players like Deandra Dottin, Stafanie Taylor or Hayley Matthews fail to make big scores.

This was evident when the West Indies were swept 5-0 during a five T20 series against England in September 2020, when the side failed to achieve a score of 140 runs in any of the matches. England, meanwhile, scored over 140 runs in all but one of the matches.

Walsh believes that for that trend to end the team cannot rely on just two or three players.

 “Consistency can’t be just three players. If we are playing six or seven batters, not everybody is to come off all the time but we need to have four or five batters to be consistently producing. It can’t be the same three all the time,” said Walsh, who also indicated that there are other areas in which they have to improve as well.

“They also have to be aware of the game situation, so we are going to combine both as we are going to have the batters being a lot more consistent and not just depend on two or three players.”

Walsh revealed that there are signs that the camp in January had already begun to yield positive indicators of the change required.

“We started some drills in the last camp so it will be a continuation of that. We saw where we were getting a little more consistency. We saw where we able to bat 50 overs because in the first game that didn’t happen but in the last two games that happened,” Walsh said referring to three intra-squad practice matches played while in the camp that month.

“I also think it was the mindset as well so those areas we are going to be working on, with the mental skills we are going to stay there (at the crease) and we want them to be technically sound as well to be able to deliver.”

Walsh was appointed last week in the wake of a disappointing tour against England where the Caribbean women were swept 5-0 in an embarrassingly lopsided series.

Walsh, the only West Indies bowler to take 500 Test wickets, said he has a plan to inject a winning mentality into the team.

“There is room for improvement in all aspects of the game. My idea and plan and strategy is to re-focus, re-energize and to look at the talented players we have and work out how we can improve with the players we have and other young players to come into the set-up as well,” he said.

“To try to create that brand that we know we can play, that we used to play, going back a few years when we won the T20 world Cup in India and couple years ago when we were in the semi-finals and were doing so well.

“That is going to come from consistency, how we plan, how we strategize, how we execute and get our tactical awareness up. I’m not going to leave any stones unturned. I’m going to go right through everything to ensure we give ourselves the very best chance. We have a good solid base of players. Obviously, we have to perform. Those teams with players who perform get the best results.”

Walsh said he wants the players to go back to enjoying their cricket and that means working on building team confidence.

“I want to see them smiling again. The whole idea is to give them self-confidence and self-belief that they have a job to do and perform,” he said. “Once the players believe in themselves and they are smiling and enjoying the game that’s the right path.

“You will have some bad patches and failures here and there but that consistency and that will and pride to play for the West Indies is what I want to see more of.”

The match was reduced to 36 overs per side because of excess moisture on the pitch. The umpires deliberated and delayed the toss and start of the match allowing the pitch time to dry. The game was then reduced by a further two overs to 34 overs per side as the rains came and forced a stop in play.

When play began, Pakistan women took advantage of some wayward bowling by the West Indies Women, both in the opening overs and then the back end of the innings which allowed them to post 190-8.

Muneeba Ali was the top scorer for Pakistan with 39 while Omaima Sohail scored 34 against the bowling of Shabika Gajnabi, who finished with figures of 2-26 and Chinelle Henry 2-37.

At the innings break, the umpires gave the West Indies Women a revised target of 194 runs from the 34 overs. The West Indies Women struggled to maintain or exceed the required run-rate, leaving too many runs to get in the final overs with wickets falling consistently.

Only Britney Cooper, who led all scorers with 40 and Deandra Dottin 37, offered any real resistance to the bowling of Fatima Sana Khan, who returned figures of 5-39 and Diana Baig 2-32, as the West Indies Women were bowled out for 171.

However, West Indies Women's Head Coach Courtney Walsh was pleased with the overall performance of the team throughout the series despite the back to back losses.

"There's a fair amount of positives with the cricket upfront. We lacked consistency in the last two games, we didn't show that hunger,” Walsh said.

“I wouldn't say it was complacency but we made some crucial mistakes that cost us right throughout. The results of both series wins were very good because we hadn't had a series for a while. Moving forward we have to look at where we are. We have the qualifiers coming up and World Cup after, so we have to address a number of areas."

Captain Stafanie Taylor shared similar Walsh’s sentiments.

"We will take away the series win but I guess when you look back on these two last games, I think we should have done a lot better,” said Taylor, who was nonetheless happy for the series win.

“It's very pleasing, we haven't won a series at home or away (in a long time), to actually win a series at home, once you win at home you can transfer that to a win away, so I'm really pleased we're back up and running when it comes to winning."

In the wake of the discovery of the new Omicron Covid variant, more severe global restrictions against travellers from a number of African countries, including Zimbabwe, forced the ICC to abandon the tournament prematurely and to send competing teams home as quickly as possible.

The West Indies squad was flown to Oman by an ICC private charter, with a short stopover in Namibia, along with eight other international squads. Oman was used as a staging area for the West Indies Women’s squad while they awaited an available route home.

“We are pleased to confirm that the West Indies Women’s squad will soon be making their way back home. We want to thank them for their patience and understanding as we worked with our counterparts at the ICC and Oman Cricket to facilitate their return at the earliest opportunity,” said CWI CEO Johnny Grave.

“We want to express our appreciation to the ICC, Oman Cricket and our operations team, who have worked tirelessly to ensure everyone was comfortable and remained safe.”

Meanwhile, Head Coach Courtney Walsh the players and coaching staff are relieved to be heading home after enduring challenging times in quarantine.

“The team is relieved by the good news that we will be home with our families before Christmas. The sudden cancellation of the Qualifiers and transition period in Oman has been mentally taxing on the entire team, both for the players and management staff,” Walsh said.

“As a management group, we tried to ensure that the players remained in a positive frame of mind. Our Strength and Conditioning Coach created a fitness challenge for all of us to participate in for the duration of the quarantine period, as it was something to take our minds off what was happening. I must say thanks to our Team Manager, the ICC and Oman Cricket, for all their logistical work, in ensuring we’re on our way home as quickly as possible.”

The players and team management are expected to arrive at their various West Indian home territories over the course of the next few days.

Following the termination of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers, ICC announced that the West Indies Women along with Pakistan Women and Bangladesh Women secured the final three qualification spots for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup by virtue of the existing ICC Women’s ODI rankings. The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup will be played in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3, 2022.

The former world-renowned fast bowler has served as an assistant coach with the Bangladesh Men’s team, and subsequently worked on a short-term contract with the West Indies Women’s team, including at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2020 held in Australia earlier this year.

Walsh is the leading wicket-taker in West Indies Test history with 519 wickets in 132 Test matches. A former Jamaica and West Indies captain, he took 227 wickets in One-Day Internationals, and also took 1807 wickets in 429 first-class matches. The 57-year-old is a member of the ICC Hall of Fame.

“This is indeed an honour to be named as the new Head Coach. It’s an exciting challenge and I’ve always wanted to give back in any way I can and help with the development of the game in the West Indies. The experience I have, my knowledge of the game, and my overall organizational skills will be key aspects as we try to develop a winning team culture,” said Walsh.

“I worked with the team at the Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this year in Australia and in the series against India in the Caribbean last year, so I have a very good understanding of what is required. The ability and the talent are there, we have some fantastic players in the West Indies, and it will be my duty and focus to help the women to develop their talents and achieve the goals we are going to be setting together.”

 Jimmy Adams, CWI’s Director of Cricket said Walsh will be integral to moving the women’s programme forward.

“I am delighted to have Courtney leading our international women's programme having successfully come through CWI’s recruitment process.  He will be overseeing the programme initially until the end of the next two ICC Women's World Cups in 2022 and he will be pivotal in working with CWI’s High Performance Team to move our whole women’s programme forward, as part of our wider strategic plan which has Women’s cricket as a key priority,” Adams said.

Since retiring from the game, Walsh has held several posts within CWI cricket set-up. He was a member of West Indies’ senior selection panel from 2013 to 2016 and was part of the panel which selected the squad that won the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in India. He has also been Team Manager for the West Indies Under-19 and Under-15 teams and has served as a Director of the Jamaica Cricket Association. He has also been a Bowling Mentor for the Jamaica Tallawahs and Bowling Coach for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The Jamaican, who led West Indies women’s to the semi-finals of the 2022 ICC Women's World Cup in New Zealand, where they lost to eventual winners Australia, will now aim to rewrite the history books by assisting Zimbabwe to a maiden World Cup appearance.

The Lady Chevrons are targeting one of two spots from the Women's T20 World Cup qualifiers, which begins in the United Arab Emirates on April 25.

Walsh, 61, who took 519 Test wickets in his stellar career, is assisting head coach Walter Chawaguta ahead of the tournament, and Givemore Makoni, managing director of Zimbabwe’s Cricket is delighted to have the legendary pacer on board.

"We count ourselves fortunate and privileged to be able to bring in Courtney as a technical consultant for our campaign in Abu Dhabi," Makoni said.

"He is one of the world's greatest cricketers and we believe his experience at the highest level of the women's game in particular will boost our chances,” he added.

A total of 10 teams will participate in the qualifiers in the UAE, which culminates on May 7.

The sides will be split into two groups of five, with the top two progressing to the semi-finals, from where the two finalists will secure berths to the Women's T20 World Cup in Bangladesh later this year.

Walsh and his Zimbabwe outfit will face the hosts, Ireland, the Netherlands and Vanuatu in Group B, while Sri Lanka, Thailand, Scotland, Uganda and United States, are set to lock horns in Group A.

Zimbabwe women won the gold medal at the African Games in Ghana last month, beating South Africa in a super over.

Joseph, the 20-year-old left-arm spinner from St Lucia, was the leading wicket-taker for the West Indies Women with five wickets in the four ODI matches she played at an average of 19.40 and economy rate of 3.38.

Speaking to the media late last week, Walsh lauded Joseph’s performance during the series.

“Obviously, Qiana has played before but it’s the first time we were looking at her to play the role she did and she did it in both competitions; very, very satisfying,” Walsh said.

“We haven’t had a left-arm spinner for quite some time, most teams struggle against that or have that in their set up, so from a coaching perspective, it was something I had been very keen to have a look at and she has answered the right questions.

“She did well, it was very satisfying with her performance and how she went about it so it is definitely something to work on to give us those options with the bowling.”

Grimmond, the 23-year-old right-arm off-break bowler from Guyana, played in just two matches in the ODI series but four wickets at an average of 13.00 and an economy of 3.66.

“Grimmond came into the last two games and did well in the last game from a bowling perspective, so that is also another good question answered,” he said while also singling out Trinidadian Karishma Ramharack for praise on the strength of her best bowling figures of 3-8 in the T20 series.

“Ramharack did well in the T20 in the game she played and won Player of the Match, so these are some of the positive signs, what is lacking is the consistency and that is what we have to work on and which we will keep working on,” Walsh said.

“We want them to execute more consistently and once that is happening then it will give us more chances of winning games.”

Cricket West Indies (CWI) confirmed that the three CG United One-Day Internationals (ODI) and five T20 Internationals (T20I) will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

The CG United ODI Series is scheduled for September 16, 19 and 22 and matches will start at 9.30 am local time, and 8.30 am Jamaica time. The T20Is are scheduled for September 26 to October 6.

All of the T20Is will start at 1.00 pm local time, midday 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.

Courtney Walsh, West Indies Women’s Head Coach, welcomed the tour and said they will have a keen eye on the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

“I am very happy that we will be hosting New Zealand in the West Indies. They are a very competitive team, and this will make for a great series for our team. As it comes just after we’ve had the Women’s regional tournaments and the Women’s CPL, it will be a great fillip for our players,” Walsh said.

“We are currently holding another specialist camp including some new players, and after the Women’s CPL we will have a second camp in Antigua.

“In addition, the lead selector was with the West Indies U19 Women’s team for their series in Florida and has identified some exciting prospects to consider. So, we should have enough cricket before the New Zealand Series starts. Every series that we play we want to win, and we will be playing a positive brand of cricket. We will also have an eye on the T20 World Cup around the corner. So, this will give the squad a chance to showcase all their skills, and also give us, the coaching staff, a chance to look at what depth we have.”

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 MATCH SCHEDULE

CG United ODI Series

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

Monday 19 September: 2nd CG United ODI, 9:30 am Eastern Caribbean/8:30 am Jamaica Time

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

T20I Series

Monday 26 September: 1st T20I, 1:30 pm Eastern Caribbean/12:30 pm Jamaica time

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

Saturday 1 October: 3rd T20I, 1:30 pm Eastern Caribbean/12:00 pm Jamaica time

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

Thursday 6 October: 5th T20I, 1:30 pm Eastern Caribbean/12:00 pm Jamaica time

Soogrim returned figures of 3 for 5 from 4.5 overs while Schultz had figures of 3 for 36 in the match won by  Anisa Mohammed’s XI over Stafanie Taylor’s XI.

“We had a low-scoring game, but I was particularly pleased to see the effort by all the ladies on both teams. Even more impressed with the likes of young Soogrim and Schultz, the way how they bowled and the effort they put in. Also, the opening attack of Connell and Aaliyah Alleyne kept the batters on guard," Walsh said.

"It was a challenging wicket when we saw Deandra bat and then later on when Stafanie and Hayley batted, chasing the low score. We saw some good signs, a lot of positives to work from but still work to be done. I think all in all it was a good outing for just the first game and definitely, we will be working on improvements for the remaining matches.”

Batting first, Mohammed’s XI were bowled out for 112 in 30.5 overs thanks largely to Soogrim and Shamilia Connell who took 2 for 14 from the four overs she bowled. Deandra Dottin did her best to counter to incisive bowling scoring an unbeaten 51 while facing 80 balls.

Chasing 113, Taylor’s XI lost Hayley Matthews for 19 and Taylor for 26 as the side were bowled out for 104.

The 23-year-old Schultz was the standout left-arm orthodox bowler exhibited good control already demonstrating the benefits of the camp.