Windies women prepare against India for W/Cup

MEMBERS of the West Indies women’s cricket team arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday evening from Holland where they qualified for the World Cup to be played next year in South Africa. West Indies finished second to Ireland in the qualifying tournament and will now join India, Sri Lanka, Ireland, England, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia in the finals. Ann Browne, coach of the team said on her arrival at Piarco on Tuesday evening that she was very happy with the great performance in Holland. “But right now our focus is on doing well in the World Cup. Since our victory we have already received an invitation from India to play some matches and this would help us a lot in preparing for the ‘big guns’ when the World Cup rolls along,” Browne said. The West Indies won four of their five matches after losing the first against Ireland.  “We told Ireland after the tournament that we are going to meet them again and this time we are going to defeat them in the World Cup,” she said.

“We had a torrid time before reaching the venue and we had to stay over two days in London after the British Airways baggage strike. When we turned up at the venue for the first match there were six players who did not have a piece of gear. They had to play with borrowed gear and added to this the jet lag put us at a disadvantage,” Browne said. “We however bounced back well and took the next four matches to finish second.” Manager of the team Cinda Bobb said the players showed great resolve in coming back from their uncertain start. “After the first match the players came up with a motto that said ‘someone will pay’ and this worked great for us,” Bobb said. She added that after the Caribbean girls won their final match the players were elated and from that point they really believed that they could be a force to reckon with on the world stage.

“Now we are going to the World Cup and the work starts immediately for the players. We desperately need sponsorship for the players to be properly prepared and we will be looking to the corporate sector to come forward and assist this winning team,” she said. First vice-president of the West Indies Women’s Cricket Federation Joycelyn Opadeyi was on hand at the VIP section of the airport to welcome the players and told them that their performance in Holland will lift the state of the game throughout the Caribbean region. “You all are winners and we are so very proud of you in the Caribbean. Go forward and give it your best shot at the World Cup and be the toast of the region,” Opadeyi said. On a more realistic note, Opadeyi said that although she would like the West Indies to win the World Cup, she will be happy once they finish in the top six so that they don’t have to go through the qualification stage again.