As International cricket for women seems to unpack out of the COVID pause, eyes are set on Windies side which will be touring the English soil. West Indies have announced their squad and there seems to be a noticeable absence. Anisa Mohammed has opted out of the tour. West Indies are supposed to face England five times in the upcoming series. The matches will be played under a biosecure environment this month.
West Indies have, importantly, named their 18-player squad for the tour which will be led by Stafanie Taylor. There is also an interesting inclusion of uncapped played as Kaysia Schultz made her way to the side. A statement from Cricket West Indies said that “All players were given the option to decline selection for any Covid-19 related concern”. It further read that “Anisa Mohammed was the only potential selectee who declined the invitation to travel to England. CWI fully respects her decision to choose to do so”.
West Indies women have safely arrived in Derby and have completed their 1st recovery session today. #WIvENG
📸 @windiescricket pic.twitter.com/tcwbwvQvKJ— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 2, 2020
It is interesting to note that when men from the West Indies toured England last month, three players had taken their names back. The windies side had to undergo a COVID test before they made their way to Britain on chartered flights. It has to be noted that Anisa is one of the most experienced campaigners of the West Indies cricketing side.
She holds the record for being one of the most successful bowlers in the shortest format. She has around 110 wickets against her name. It is easy to estimate her experience and talent when one looks at the fact that she made her debut when she was just 14. She has been an integral part of the Windies squad in the limited over format. Further, as we saw in the recently concluded series between England and Australia, often spinners get a good amount of turn on English pitches due to the grip.
As matches will progress in the series, Windies are bound to miss an artful spinner who can do the talking. A little spin on two or three occasions can implant doubts in the minds of batter and eventually his or her natural game gets shadowed. Anisa with her experience could have made life difficult for English batters who are not very comfortable against spin as compared to seam.
In the middle overs when matches are lost or won, Windies will need a bowler to replace Anisa and bowl as accurately and economically like her. The five-match series will begin later this month with the final match on the 30th. Anisa’s absence can prove as someone’s chance unless and until someone is ready to grab it with both the hands.
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