Even as injuries continue to plague the West Indies’ quest to finish among the top five teams in the ICC Women’s Championship*, Shamilia Connell warns that Australia will need their ‘A’ game to get the better of WINDIES on home soil. Coming off of the back of a three-nil away series defeat to England, WINDIES’ task has been made even more difficult by the injuries to senior ladies – Shakera Selman, Chedean Nation, and Shemaine Campbelle.
The ladies in maroon will, however, be boosted by the return of Anisa Mohammed, while Kyshona Knight will add experience to this thinned WINDIES outfit. The 19-year-old all-rounder–Shabika Gajnabi–for whom Caribbean fans have high hopes, also brings quality to the squad. Still, there is no doubt the Caribbean side will continue to suffer from the absence of prolific all-rounder, Deandra Dottin.
Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) Interim Chairman of Selectors, Robert Haynes gave some perspective on the team: “The panel selected the best available players from the camp in Antigua over the last month, as a result of most of our senior players being unavailable due to injury. We have included Anisa Mohammed and Kyshona Knight who have a lot of experience between them, which is required when playing against Australia, the top-ranked women’s team.”
Haynes added, “As a result of the injuries to our senior players, it gave us the opportunity to select two of our younger players in Shabika Gajnabi and Karishma Ramharack to give the captain more options in the bowling department.”
The 13-woman squad to host the mighty Australians in the three-match One-Day International series starting on Thursday, September 5th reads: Stafanie Taylor (c), Hayley Matthews, Reniece Boyce, Afy Fletcher, Chinelle Henry, Shamilia Connell, Stacy Ann King, Natasha McLean, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Anisa Mohammed, Karishma Ramharack Shabika Gajnabi.