With the aim of improving her overall game and cementing her spot on the West Indies Women’s team, Guyanese Kaysia Schultz has embarked on a three-month stint with Ipswich Sports Club in the Intermediate League.
The left-arm spinner will suit up for the club’s male team, all in the interest of lifting her game to the next level.
While she will be the only female to play in the Intermediate League, seasoned West Indies players Hayley Matthews and Deandra Dottin do ply their trade in the male First Division competition.
“I’m super excited about the opportunities that lie ahead. I’m really looking to improve my game all-round,” the 26-year-old said.
“I think this is going to be good for me going forward, so when that time comes I’m permanently in that (West Indies) squad.”
To date, Schultz has played four T20 Internationals for the West Indies, making her debut against England in Barbados in December 2022.
She subsequently played in the Tri-Series involving India and hosts South Africa in January 2023, but the opportunities have been limited thus far, sending down just six overs across the four matches.
Schultz has also played a solitary One-Day International, returning figures of 2-52 off seven overs against England in Antigua last December, becoming the first West Indian since leg-spinner Afy Fletcher in 2008 to take two wickets on debut in the format.
During the last two seasons, Schultz was also part of the Guyana Amazon Warriors set-up, but the spinner is yet to debut in the League.
“I’m looking to get more opportunities to play and the only way I can do that is by working hard on improving my game. Hopefully, I’m able to do that while in Barbados,” Schultz reckoned.
“I think I have what it takes to play consistently at the highest level, and that is the aim right now.”
Anthony Gittens, President (ag) of Ipswich Sports Club, said it is an honour for the club to have an international player part of the set-up.
“One of our goals is to be able to provide players for the West Indies team, not only for Barbados, so she fits right in to what we’re trying to achieve,” Gittens explained.
Club Captain Stefan Holder was equally ecstatic to have Schultz onboard, noting that her international experience is a plus.
“In our Intermediate team we don’t have a left-arm spinner, so that was needed this season. Our club actually embraces female cricket. Currently, we have two Under-19 Barbados players- Eboni Brathwaite and Kamia Broom- and a young player still in primary school,” Holder highlighted.
For Schultz, the next three months are crucial to the upward mobility of her career, one that she feels has become a bit stagnant with limited opportunities in the middle.
