KINGSTON, Jamaica – The WICB Selection Panel on Wednesday announced the squads for the West Indies Women’s upcoming assignments – the three-match ODI Series at Sabina Park, Jamaica and the tri-nation Twenty20 Series at Kensington Oval in Barbados.
The Windies will face New Zealand in three ODIs in Jamaica on October 6, 8 and 10. They then travel to Barbados to take on England and New Zealand in the tri-nation T20 Series to be played from Monday October 14 to Saturday October 26.
The squad will again be led by experienced wicket-keeper Merissa Aguilleira – who has been at the helm since 2009. The 13-member squad to face New Zealand features the majority of players who reached the final of the ICC Women’s World Cup in India earlier this year.
Head Coach Sherwin Campbell is pleased with the composition of the squads.
"We believe we have a strong team which can challenge both New Zealand and England in the coming weeks, especially in our home conditions," Campbell said.
"The nucleus of the squad has been together for some time. We are developing really well with a good mixture of young enthusiastic players and our reliable experienced world-class players. New Zealand have a young team as well, but we believe we can get the better of them here in Jamaica."
Campbell added: "This is the first time we will be playing at Sabina Park and for us that is very exciting. This is the first time the Jamaicans will be seeing the team in action and will form a new fan base for us. We expect them to come out and support us."
The squad for the tri-nation T20 Series includes one newcomer – Chinelle Henry, the 18-year-old top-order batter from Jamaica. There is also a recall for Stacy-Ann King – the 30-year-old who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm medium pace. She has played 50 ODIs and 47 T20s for West Indies since her debut in 2008.
Campbell said the Windies will use the series as part of their preparations for the ICC Women’s World T20 Championship in Bangladesh in March to April 2014.
"Henry is a wonderful talent and we want to give her an opportunity at the international level. She has fitted in well in the camp and looks ready to make the move up. It is good to have King back in the squad and she brings experience. She is very good in this format with her explosive batting and deceptive medium-pace bowling," Campbell said.
"We will be banking on the senior players to stamp their authority and build on what we did in the last two major world tournaments in Sri Lanka and India. We expect them to do very well."
West Indies will then play England in a three-match ODI series in Trinidad on October 29, November 1 and 3. The squad for that series will be named later.