COURTNEY Walsh, coach of the West Indies Women’s cricket team, is looking ahead to the One Day International (ODI) series against hosts Pakistan, which will take place in Karachi from November 8-14, in the lead-up to the 2021 World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.
The ODIs will be contested on November 8, 11 and 14.
The West Indies Women will then go to Zimbabwe for the qualifiers from November 21 to December 5. At the qualifiers, ten teams will be vying for three places at the 2022 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand.
In September, New Zealand men’s team pulled out of their tour of Pakistan while England opted out of their tour, both citing security concerns.
“I think it’s very important, especially from the Pakistan (Cricket) Board’s point of view,” said Walsh, during a Zoom media conference on Tuesday. “They would have appreciated this.”
Walsh, the former WI men’s team fast bowling great and captain, continued, “From a cricketing point of view, it’s important for us to get some competitive cricket before we go into the qualifiers.”
Touching on the arrangements made by both the Pakistan Board and Cricket West Indies (CWI), Walsh said, “We did all the due diligence. We’re satisfied by what is put in place.
“Pakistan is in the qualifiers as well,” he added.
Captain Stafanie Taylor, who missed the recent home series against South Africa for covid19 reasons, and batter Shemaine Campbell, who missed both the Pakistan and South Africa home series due to injury, have returned to the West Indies’ squad of 18 (15 on the main squad and three reserves).
Walsh mentioned, “We have roles for everybody. We have 18 players here, 15 would be involved (in) the qualifiers. We want to give everybody a chance to play here, once that’s possible, so we wouldn’t go into the qualifiers with anyone being short of match practice, if ever called upon.
“We had good preparation in Antigua before we left,” he added. “We’re in a good place at the moment. Once we get acclimatised, we’ll be in good stead.”
The West Indies Women edged Pakistan 3-2 in their five-match series in July, but were soundly beaten 4-1 by the South Africans in September.
And Walsh is pleased with Taylor’s return to the squad, after the batting woes against South Africa.
He said, “Stafanie is back in the set-up. There will be changes in the batting order. There will be different things to look at, and we’ll be trying to come up with the best combination to give us the best chance of winning matches.”
Walsh continued, “We have to try to win more games. The more games we win, the easier our chances of getting through in the qualifiers. Our main aim is to get through the qualifiers. We’ll be trying to win the (Pakistan) series as well.”
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