West Indies women get ready for Ireland with 18-member squad

ST JOHN’S, Antigua:

THE CRICKET West Indies (CWI) Women’s Selection Panel yesterday announced the preliminary squad of players who will participate in a training camp in preparation for the upcoming six-match series against Ireland Women.

The training camp will be held at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia from June 14 to 21, where the players will have training and fitness sessions as well as go through strategic preparation for the three-match CG United One Day International (ODI) Series.

The CG United ODI Series will be played from June 26 to July 1 and is the West Indies Women’s third series in the ICC Women’s Championship, where the top five teams in the 10-team league qualify automatically for the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.

The preliminary squad includes a mix of experienced players and promising young talent. Cherry-Ann Fraser returns to add depth and experience to the team’s bowling attack after missing the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup due to injury. Left-handed allrounder Qiana Joseph, who last played international cricket in 2021, also returns to the training camp squad. She was among the leading players in the recent Women’s CG United Super50 Cup and the T20 Blaze played in St Kitts.

Several West Indies Rising Stars Under-19 players have been included in the preliminary squad as well.

Zaida James, Jannillea Glasgow, Djenaba Joseph, Shunelle Sawh, and Under-19 captain Ashmini Munisar have all earned a place.

CWI’s Lead Selector for Women’s cricket Ann Browne-John said: “The series against Ireland is an important one for the West Indies Women as the team seeks to build points to qualify directly for the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. It also serves as a perfect opportunity to continue to expose younger players to international cricket. This was a policy that the CWI embarked upon which resulted in Under-19 players being selected to the team for the England Series in December and the ICC T20 World Cup in February.”

Browne-John added: “This is now being taken one step further, and there are five players who participated in the ICC Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup in January now in the squad preparing for the series against Ireland. This means that there are some senior players who are not able to get a place in the squad at this time. The Selection Panel, however, believes that this squad has a good mix of youth and experience as we continue to build the West Indies team of the future.”

The Women’s Selection Panel will announce the official West Indies Women’s squad ahead of the three-match CG United ODI Series, with the T20I squad announced later.

WI WOMEN TRAINING SQUAD

Hayley Matthews – Captain

Shemaine Campbelle - Vice Captain

Aaliyah Alleyne

Shamilia Connell

Chinelle Henry

Afy Fletcher

Cherry Ann Fraser

Shabika Gajnabi

Jannillea Glasgow

Chinelle Henry

Zaida James

Djenaba Joseph

Qiana Joseph

Mandy Mangru

Ashmini Munisar

Karishma Ramharack

Shunelle Sawh

Stafanie Taylor

Rashada Williams