West Indies Women head coach Courtney Walsh believes his most difficult task preparing for next year's ICC Women's Cricket World Cup, will be keeping his players focused and ready for the task at hand following the cancellation of the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe.

The players returned home to their respective islands last weekend.

“That’s going to be a big challenge,” Walsh told the Antigua Observer.

“We had a break and didn’t get to play as much cricket as we wanted to play for them to get that exposure, so I don’t want to use the words ‘starting over again’, but it is going to be something similar where we are going to have to restart or reset and see how best we can get things going to have everybody clicking again.”

Following the cancellation of the qualifiers that were to be held between November 21 and December 5, the West Indies Women were forced to spend 11 days in quarantine in Oman.

West Indies Women had won their first match against Ireland Women by six wickets.

The 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup gets underway on March 4, 2022, with West Indies Women facing hosts New Zealand at the Bay Oval in Tauranga.

The West Indies Women are on their way home following 11 days of quarantine in Oman after the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women’s Cricket World Cup qualification tournament in Zimbabwe was cancelled over Covid fears.

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.

Deandra Dottin was player of the match as the West Indies Women enjoyed a victorious start to their ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifying campaign in Zimbabwe on Tuesday.

Dottin top-scored with 73 from 87 balls to help the Windies chase down their target of 160 to defeat Ireland by six wickets.

After captain Stafanie Taylor won the toss and elected to field first, the West Indies bowled out Ireland for 159 in 43 overs.

Anissa Mohammed was the pick of the bowlers for the Caribbean side, taking 3-40 from her 10 overs.

She was supported by Hayley Matthews who took 2-20 from her 10.

Shamilia Connell took 2-33 from her 10 and Taylor took 2-15 from her 3 overs.

Gaby Lewis top-scored for the Irish with 36 from 58 balls.

The Windies Women then needed only 39.3 overs to chase their target with Dottin getting 73 and Taylor finishing not out on 41.

The West Indies and Sri Lanka both have two points, having won their first game, with the Windies at the top of the group due to a superior net run rate.

Those two will face off next on Saturday.

West Indies Women captain, Stafanie Taylor, has warned against complacency from her team as they begin their quest to qualify for the 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup to be held in New Zealand from March to April in 2022.

The Windies Women open their campaign tomorrow at 2:30am local time against Ireland in Harare and Taylor has warned against underestimating their opponents.

“That’s one thing you don’t want to do. Everyone’s here to win the competition. We’re not here to take any team for granted. We’re here to play hard cricket and come out on top,” said Taylor.

With the West Indies Women having completed a 3-0 series sweep against Pakistan prior to their arrival in Harare, Taylor says she hopes the team can carry their momentum into the tournament.

“I think we had a good series against Pakistan so I would love to see us continue where we left off from there. We’ve been playing some good cricket and getting some really good scores from our top players and even the lesser batting line up," she said.

Taylor concedes, however, that even with the team entering the qualifiers in good form there are still areas that need improvement.

“In our batting, it’s running the first one hard, turning twos into threes. In bowling, bowlers need to get early wickets and eliminate the wides,” she said.

The captain also provided some insight into the confidence of the team coming off some good results before the tournament.

“The morale is pretty good, especially seeing batters getting runs. I think that’s something that we’ve been working on because we’ve been relying on the bowling department for quite some time now so it’s really nice that the batters have been scoring those runs,” she said.

The West Indies other group games will be Saturday, November 27^th against Sri Lanka and Monday, November 29^th against the Netherlands with both matches beginning at 2:30am local time.

The Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers feature nine teams divided into two groups.

West Indies Women are in group A alongside Ireland, Sri Lanka and The Netherlands while group B comprises Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Zimbabwe and the USA.

Papua New Guinea were also supposed to be in the field but had to withdraw after a Covid-19 outbreak within the team before boarding their flight to Zimbabwe.

The top three teams from each group will advance to the Super 6 phase and the top three teams at the end of that phase will qualify for the 2022 World Cup alongside Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa and England.

West Indies Women head into the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier on a winning note after defeating Thailand women by 151 runs in their warm-up match at the Sunrisers Sports Club ground in Harare.

West Indies Women posted 230-6 from their 50 overs, with Thailand Women replying with 79 all out in 36.3 overs.

The West Indies Women owed their score to Deandra Dottin, who scored 101 and Hayley Matthews, who contributed with 57.

 Onnicha Kamchomphu took 2-26 while Suleeporn Laomi returned figures of 2-37.

Thailand was never in the hunt, despite Chanida Sutthiruang’s 37.  Sornnarin Tippoch was the next best scorer with nine as Shakera Selman took 2-1 and Aaliyah Alleyne 2-9 proved too much for the opposing batters.

Naturally, Head Coach Courtney Walsh was pleased with the outcome ahead of the first match on November 23 against Ireland.

“It was good to get in a practice match in Zimbabwe to get accustomed to the conditions. The ladies went out and did what was required,” he said.

“Deandra and Hayley had good knocks, so it’s good to see the runs continuing from over from Pakistan. We gave all the bowlers a chance to get a feel of the pitch here in Zimbabwe. It was important to get match practice as Papua New Guinea pulled out so we are short one game.”

Walsh believes winning the series against Pakistan 3-0 and overwhelming Thailand will boost the confidence of his players.

“Once you keep winning you’re going to keep having confidence. We left Pakistan pretty confidently and it’s important to keep that momentum and not taking anything for granted,” he said.

“Obviously, this was just a practice game but the win is important for team morale and then we have a few days before we start the competition, so it’s good to get that win under our belts.”

The West Indies Women will continue their training schedule for the next three days before they bow into World Cup qualifying action.

Stafanie Taylor became just the third woman in history to score 5,000 ODI career runs, as she made a magnificent seventh century to lead West Indies Women to a superb victory. The star captain finished on 102 not out as the visitors reached 226-4 to secure the win in Sunday’s third and final match and sweep the series 3-0 over Pakistan Women.

Taylor played the ultimate captain’s knock as she added a West Indies all-time record for the fifth wicket with Chadean Nation. The pair came together with the score at 98-4 and stayed together until Nation struck the winning run. They added an unbroken 128 in 23 overs. Nation found great confidence batting with his inspirational leader and made the highest score of her career – 51 not out off 67 balls with seven boundaries.

It was a day of records for Taylor. When she reached 42, she joined Mithali Raj of India and Charlotte Edwards of England as the only players in history with 5000 runs. She moved on to notch her seventh ton – and second of the year – another record for West Indies. It was the second century in the series for West Indies – following the career-best 132 by Deandra Dottin on the first match last Monday.

Earlier, Hayley Matthews played some stunning shots as she made 49 off 58 balls with eight fours, as she added 83 for the fourth wicket with Taylor. This pulled the West Indies out of deep trouble after they slipped to 15-3 in the fifth over – as the top three batters all fell in single figures.

Matthews was named Player-of-the-Series for her outstanding all round performances. She was the second-highest run-maker with 132 runs at an average of 44 and the leading wicket-taker with seven wickets at an average of 14 runs per wicket.

West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor struck a masterful unbeaten century on Sunday to lead West Indies Women to a comprehensive six-wicket victory with six over to spare over Pakistan Women and complete a sweep of the three-match series in Karachi.

Chasing Pakistan’s Women’s 225-7, Taylor scored 102 not out after coming to the rescue of her team that has slumped to 15-3 within the first five overs.

Taylor shared in an 83-run fourth-wicket partnership with Hayley Matthews, who made 49, and then a match-winning unbroken partnership of 128 with Chedean Nation, who scored 51 not out, her maiden ODI half-century.

Taylor faced 117 balls for her score that included 12 fours while Nation struck seven boundaries facing 67 balls during the match-winning stand.

Anam Amin, who did the early damage by dismissing the in-form Diandra Dottin for 4 and Shemaine Campbelle for one, finished with 2-45 from her 10 overs. Diana Baig, who dismissed Rashada Williams for 6, returned figures of 1-36 from her eight overs.

Sadia Iqbal, who snagged Matthews’ wicket, finished with 1-36 from seven overs.

Earlier, sent in to bat, Pakistan Women owed their best score of the series to opener Muneeba Ali, who scored a patient 58. She and Ayesha Zafar staged an opening stand of 49 before the latter was out caught and bowled by Aaliyah Alleyne (2-41) for 13.

Ali and Javeria Khan put on 74 over the next 20 overs as the West Indies bowlers tightened their grip on the innings. Ali eventually fell to Taylor in the 31^st over with the score on 123. Six runs later, the pressure began to take a toll as Taylor ran Khan out for 13.

Two balls later, Alleyne picked up her second wicket when she bowled Omaima Sohail for 27.

Iram Javed and Aliya Riaz held up the progress of the West Indies bowlers with a 44-run fifth-wicket stand that was eventually broken when Javed was dismissed by Shakera Selman for 26.

Riaz would eventually get Pakistan Women past 200 with her unbeaten 44 that helped set up a decent total for the West Indies Women to chase.

Selman took the wicket of Fatima Sana for nine to end with figures of 2-40.

Baig was run out for nine off the last ball of the innings.

Player of the Match Hayley Matthews took four wickets and Shamilia Connell, three, including a double-wicket maiden as the bowlers came to the rescue of the West Indies Women in the second ODI match against Pakistan Women in Karachi on Thursday.

Defending 153, the West Indies Women bowled Pakistan Women out for 116 inside 40 overs to win by 37 runs and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in their three-match ODI series.

Omaima Sohail top scored with 27 and Javeria Khan scored 24 but Matthews took 4-29 from her nine overs and Connell 3-18 from 9.2 overs as Pakistan Women slipped from 67-3 in the 25^th over losing their last seven wickets for 49 runs.

The hosts lost their last four wickets for just five runs with Connell being the main destroyer late with a double-wicket maiden in the 38^th over before Matthews picked up her fourth wicket in the 39^th. Connell then returned to wrap up proceedings when she bowled Anam Amin for a duck with the second ball of the 40^th over.

Earlier, having been sent to bat by Pakistan, the West Indies were bowled out for 153 in 45.4 overs.

Deandra Dottin, who scored a career-best 132 in the first ODI, top-scored with 34. Stafanie Taylor (23), Matthews (26), and Shemaine Campbelle (23) all got starts but failed to carry on against the bowling of Amin 2-21, Fatima Sana 2-19 and Sohail 2-25.

The West Indies are using the series as a warm-up for the ICC World Cup qualifiers set to bowl off in Zimbabwe later this month.

Deandra Dottin scored a career-best 132 as the West Indies Women marched to a 45-run victory over Pakistan Women on Monday to open their three-match ODI tour.

Player-of-the-Match Dottin, who hit 18 fours and two sixes in her 146-ball innings, got support from Hayley Matthews, who scored 57 and took three wickets for the West Indies. Together they put on 119 runs for the third wicket after the West Indies had lost Rashada Williams for 15 and Captain Stafanie Taylor for six to leave the visitors on 72-2.

Dottin would also share in a 44-run fourth-wicket partnership with Shemaine Campbelle, who made 23.

Left-arm spinner Anan Amin returned figures of 5-35 for Pakistan.

Chasing 254 for victory, Pakistan were in early trouble at 51-3 after Shakera Selman removed Sidra Ameen for two and Ayesha Zafar for 17 and Anisa Mohammed took the wicket of Muneeba Ali for 28.

However, Kainat Imtiaz (24) and Iram Javed (40) shared in a 57-run partnership and Aliya Riaz and Captain Sidra Nawaz, stitched together a sixth-wicket partnership of 43, to keep the West Indies bowling at bay.

However, they were unable to score freely and fell well behind the required rate of scoring as Hayley Matthews 3-31 and Selman 2-35 tightened the screws. Riaz was eventually run out for 46, effectively ending any chance of a victory as the hosts ended on 208-9.

The West Indies Women will open their ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup qualifying campaign on November 21 against Papua New Guinea at the Sunrise Cricket Club in Harare, Zimbabwe in the first of their four Group A fixtures.

The West Indies Women will be guarded by a massive security detail for their upcoming tour of Pakistan with the total security team engaged for the tour expected to be above 800.

The Windies Women arrived in Karachi on Monday, ahead of a three-match ODI series against the hosts.  The tour is part of a reciprocal arrangement after the regional team hosted Pakistan in the Caribbean earlier this year.

International cricket returned to Pakistan in 2019 after a near 10-year absence, following a deadly terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009.  Things have, however, not returned to normal with both New Zealand and England pulling out of tours earlier this year, with security concerns being pointed to as an underlying issue. 

With the West Indies Women coming to town, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and country are determined to show the environment is safe for international athletes.  As such a reported 368 commandoes from the Pakistan Police Special Security Unit, including lady commandoes, and 500 personnel of the Security and Emergency Services Division (DIGa) will join other law enforcement agencies to secure the National Stadium Karachi, airport, route, hotels, and other places. 

In addition, a specialized command and control bus will remain deployed around the stadium to monitor the law-and-order situation.  A Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team including women commandos will be on standby at the SSU headquarters to deal with any emergent situation.

West Indies Women are set to tour Pakistan for three One-Day Internationals from November 8 to 14, Cricket West Indies announced Thursday.

West Indies Women Head Coach Courtney Walsh was impressed by the young bowlers, Qiana Joseph and Sheneta Grimmond, who performed well in the recent series against South Africa but insists that there is a need for greater levels of consistency from them.

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.”

West Indies Women Head Coach Courtney Walsh believes middle-order batter Rashada Williams is on the verge of breaking into the first team following her outstanding series against South Africa.