Three Guyanese included in West Indies Women camp

Guyanese Shemaine Campbell has retained her place in the Senior West Indies women’s 14- member squad for the upcoming tour to tour Ireland and England from May 21 – June 26.

National teammates Shabika Gajnabi and Sheneta Grimmond did not make the cut for the tour but have been invited to the training camp in Antigua May 6 -20.

According to a release by Cricket West Indies (CWI) Thursday, Hayley Matthews and Stacy Ann King have been included by CWI interim selection panel for the tour.

Matthews returns to the squad after an injury layoff, when she damaged her MCL playing in the Women’s Big Bash in Australia last December. The injury resulted in Matthews missing the recent West Indies Women’s series against Pakistan in Karachi and Dubai.

Stacy Ann King is returning to international cricket after an almost three-year absence. King last represented the West Indies Women in the home series against England in 2016.

Interim Chairman of Selectors Robert Haynes on behalf of the interim selection panel said, “Stacy Ann King’s return to the West Indies Women’s team to tour Ireland and England is no real surprise after her performance during the recently concluded Colonial Medical Insurance Women’s Super50 Cup and CWI’s T20 Blaze tournaments.

Her experience is very vital in this very crucial series against England, a series that we must win, so her ability to bowl good left arm swing will be an added dimension to our bowling attack.

Anisa Mohammed and Merissa Aguilleira’s performances in the recent women’s championships weren’t what we expected or how we wanted them to perform, so, unfortunately, they were not picked on this touring squad.

There are other ladies who are vying for these coveted spots, we have three other wicketkeepers who have all been scoring consistently thereby outperforming Merissa.”

Haynes added, “In terms of Anisa, we have Hayley who’s back and the Captain Stafanie who can both bowl off-spin and have been performing consistently well. So overall we have a very unique and balanced team which reflects what we saw in Guyana during the Women’s Championships. Merissa and Anisa have given a lot to West Indies Cricket and I’m sure based on improved performances we can see them back in the West Indies Women’s team in future series.”

The fourteen (14) member squad along with six (6) reserve players will assemble in Antigua from for a training camp, before the touring party’s departure to Ireland from Antigua on May 21.

The West Indies Women will play Ireland in three (3) T20 Internationals on May 26, 28 and 29. Then they play England in three (3) One Day Internationals as part of the ICC Women’s Championships on June 6,9 and 13. Followed by three (3) T20 Internationals on June 18, 21 and 25.

Full Squad: Stafanie Taylor (captain), Hayley Matthews (vice-captain), Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Karishma Ramharack, Chedean Nation, Chinelle Henry, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Shakera Selman, Shamilia Connell, Shemaine Campbell, Natasha McLean and Stacy Ann King.

Additional Players: For Camp Only: Shabika Gajnabi, Sheneta Grimmond, Reniece Boyce, Britney Cooper, Shanika Bruce and Shawnisha Hector.