Captain Aguilleira hopes her team will play to its strength and avoid complacency
The West Indies prepares for next month’s ICC Women’s World Cup 2009 with one eye on the Super Six stage and the other on the 2013 tournament to be staged in India.
The women from the Caribbean are short on experience, match practice and international exposure after having played only 17 ODIs since the 2005 World Cup in South Africa, including three immediately after the tournament and 14 last year. In 2006 and 2007, the West Indies did not play a single match.
Captain Merissa Aguilleira, commenting on her team’s shortcomings, said: “We have had some tough times with the bat but I believe we are getting things in place. What we have to make sure is we are in the right mindset and know how we deal with pressure situations. We want to put our best foot forward.
“We have a very young team so we will be building for the future as well. The main events this year will present wonderful opportunities to plan for 2013 when we would come back knowing more and putting the systems in place.”
The average age of the side is just 23.66 and includes four teenagers with the youngest member being hard-hitting batter Deandra Dottin from Barbados who will celebrate her 18th birthday on 21 June. Right-handed batter Pamela Lavine is the oldest member of the team and will celebrate her 40th birthday on 12 March, the day the West Indies plays defending champion Australia at Drummoyne Oval.
At 23, Aguilleira herself is the youngest captain in the tournament, beating Pakistan’s Urooj Mumtaz by just 74 days. She has represented the West Indies in eight matches and took over the reins of the team after the retirement of Nadine George who hung up her boots after the tour to Sri Lanka where the home team won 3-2.
“We had a good camp in Barbados at the end of January before we dispersed but continued the hard work individually. Once we get to Australia, we will have more training sessions as well as warm-up matches. We will be playing as a team, keeping our focus and aiming to do the West Indian people proud,” she added.
The West Indies, which finished fifth in 2005, is pooled with defending champion Australia, former champion New Zealand and South Africa in Group A while Group B is made up of India, two-time winner England, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
The West Indies opens its campaign against South Africa at Newcastle No. 1 Sports Ground in a match which Aguilleira says is crucial to her team’s chances.
“The first match of any tournament is always very important and this will be no different. It is vitally important to our chances and we are looking forward to this game very anxiously,” she said.
“We have been preparing for this match while we have waited years for this tournament. We want to start on a winning note, go out there and do it in the first match, and try to make a statement.
“Our strengths are our bowling and fielding. We have some excellent spinners who can win matches for us. Our batting is on the up and we must keep improving to put up good scores for the bowlers to defend.
“In Sri Lanka, we learned what complacency can do as we lost the series after leading it at one stage.
“We are definitely looking to reach the Super Six stage and take it from there. But we all know it will be tough going,” said Aguilleira.
The West Indies includes five players – Debbie-Ann Lewis, Pamela Lavine, Anisa Mohammed, Cordel Jack and Kirbyina Alexander – who were part of the side that finished fifth in South Africa in 2005 with two wins and three defeats, including a one-run defeat against South Africa at Pretoria.
“Some of the players from the last World Cup are still in the team. We will be depending on them to offer experience and leadership.
“We will be positive from start to finish and you are well aware, a match is only finished when that last ball is bowled,” she said.
Aguilleira picked teenagers Stefanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin and 21-year-old vice-captain Kirbyina Alexander as the players to watch. “Stefanie is a young and talented opener. She knows what she wants and is always willing to learn.
“Deandra is another excellent young batter with awesome power and the ability to hit the ball very far while Kirbyina, our vice-captain, is mentally very strong, never gives up, she always tries to push herself to the top and is a real team player.”
Taylor has scored 276 runs in 10 ODIs besides taking nine wickets while Dottin has scored 240 runs in 12 matches. Fast bowler Alexander has bagged 12 wickets from as many matches and her best bowling figures of 10-6-6-3 was in the match in which the Netherlands was bowled out for 22 at Sportpark Het Schootsveld, Deventer last July.
“I feel very excited. I will be playing in the ICC Women’s World Cup for the first time, representing my people and playing against some of the best players in the world.
“It is an honour to be the captain of the West Indies cricket team and leading the team to such a prestigious event. At the moment I am fully focussed on doing the job and I am looking to giving my all,” she said.
WEST INDIES – Merissa Aguilleira (captain), Kirbyina Alexander (vice-captain), Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Geneille Greaves, Cordel Jack, Stacy-Ann King, Pamela Lavine, Anisa Mohammed, Debbie-Ann Lewis, Shakera Selman, Danielle Small, Charlene Taitt, Stefanie Taylor.
The West Indies prepares for next month’s ICC Women’s World Cup 2009 with one eye on the Super Six stage and the other on the 2013 tournament to be staged in India.
The women from the Caribbean are short on experience, match practice and international exposure after having played only 17 ODIs since the 2005 World Cup in South Africa, including three immediately after the tournament and 14 last year. In 2006 and 2007, the West Indies did not play a single match.
Captain Merissa Aguilleira, commenting on her team’s shortcomings, said: “We have had some tough times with the bat but I believe we are getting things in place. What we have to make sure is we are in the right mindset and know how we deal with pressure situations. We want to put our best foot forward.
“We have a very young team so we will be building for the future as well. The main events this year will present wonderful opportunities to plan for 2013 when we would come back knowing more and putting the systems in place.”
The average age of the side is just 23.66 and includes four teenagers with the youngest member being hard-hitting batter Deandra Dottin from Barbados who will celebrate her 18th birthday on 21 June. Right-handed batter Pamela Lavine is the oldest member of the team and will celebrate her 40th birthday on 12 March, the day the West Indies plays defending champion Australia at Drummoyne Oval.
At 23, Aguilleira herself is the youngest captain in the tournament, beating Pakistan’s Urooj Mumtaz by just 74 days. She has represented the West Indies in eight matches and took over the reins of the team after the retirement of Nadine George who hung up her boots after the tour to Sri Lanka where the home team won 3-2.
“We had a good camp in Barbados at the end of January before we dispersed but continued the hard work individually. Once we get to Australia, we will have more training sessions as well as warm-up matches. We will be playing as a team, keeping our focus and aiming to do the West Indian people proud,” she added.
The West Indies, which finished fifth in 2005, is pooled with defending champion Australia, former champion New Zealand and South Africa in Group A while Group B is made up of India, two-time winner England, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
The West Indies opens its campaign against South Africa at Newcastle No. 1 Sports Ground in a match which Aguilleira says is crucial to her team’s chances.
“The first match of any tournament is always very important and this will be no different. It is vitally important to our chances and we are looking forward to this game very anxiously,” she said.
“We have been preparing for this match while we have waited years for this tournament. We want to start on a winning note, go out there and do it in the first match, and try to make a statement.
“Our strengths are our bowling and fielding. We have some excellent spinners who can win matches for us. Our batting is on the up and we must keep improving to put up good scores for the bowlers to defend.
“In Sri Lanka, we learned what complacency can do as we lost the series after leading it at one stage.
“We are definitely looking to reach the Super Six stage and take it from there. But we all know it will be tough going,” said Aguilleira.
The West Indies includes five players – Debbie-Ann Lewis, Pamela Lavine, Anisa Mohammed, Cordel Jack and Kirbyina Alexander – who were part of the side that finished fifth in South Africa in 2005 with two wins and three defeats, including a one-run defeat against South Africa at Pretoria.
“Some of the players from the last World Cup are still in the team. We will be depending on them to offer experience and leadership.
“We will be positive from start to finish and you are well aware, a match is only finished when that last ball is bowled,” she said.
Aguilleira picked teenagers Stefanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin and 21-year-old vice-captain Kirbyina Alexander as the players to watch. “Stefanie is a young and talented opener. She knows what she wants and is always willing to learn.
“Deandra is another excellent young batter with awesome power and the ability to hit the ball very far while Kirbyina, our vice-captain, is mentally very strong, never gives up, she always tries to push herself to the top and is a real team player.”
Taylor has scored 276 runs in 10 ODIs besides taking nine wickets while Dottin has scored 240 runs in 12 matches. Fast bowler Alexander has bagged 12 wickets from as many matches and her best bowling figures of 10-6-6-3 was in the match in which the Netherlands was bowled out for 22 at Sportpark Het Schootsveld, Deventer last July.
“I feel very excited. I will be playing in the ICC Women’s World Cup for the first time, representing my people and playing against some of the best players in the world.
“It is an honour to be the captain of the West Indies cricket team and leading the team to such a prestigious event. At the moment I am fully focussed on doing the job and I am looking to giving my all,” she said.
WEST INDIES – Merissa Aguilleira (captain), Kirbyina Alexander (vice-captain), Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Geneille Greaves, Cordel Jack, Stacy-Ann King, Pamela Lavine, Anisa Mohammed, Debbie-Ann Lewis, Shakera Selman, Danielle Small, Charlene Taitt, Stefanie Taylor.
ICC Media Release
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 11:03:46 AM
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