West Indies Women’s spinners Anisa Mohammed and Shaquana Quintyne have identified the work they did with Pakistan spin bowling coach Saqlain Mushtaq a month ago, as the main reason for their recent bowling success.
After the first week of action in the ongoing Women’s Twenty20 International Tri-Series at Kensington Oval, the pair has been the stand-out performers for the Windies Women.
Mohammed, the experienced off-spinner, took 5-12 in the opening victory over New Zealand, while Quintyne, 17, took a career-best 5-16 in front of her home crowd on Friday night, as the home team beat England by 11 runs.
“The time I spent in the camp with Saqlain benefitted me a lot,” said Quintyne. “He was amazing to work with. “I’m a leg-break bowler, which is not always easy, but he helped me a lot with my control and direction. He also taught me a bit about maintaining my shape and variations.”
Mohammed added: “It was a lot of help for us and the information he provided has worked very well for us. I am spinning the ball a lot more and I am also working on my shape as well.
“He also talked to me about varying my lines and length, using the crease a lot more, and really trying to spin the ball a lot more. All of these are things I have worked on and I believe I will only get better.”
Sherwin Campbell, head coach of the West Indies Women’s team, lauded Quintyne for her confidence and control.
“You can see the improvement in her bowling since the camp,” he said. “She’s a more confident bowler and she’s willing to take on a leadership role as well. It is clear that she benefited a lot from the time at the camp and I can only see her getting better and stronger.”
He was also quick to shower praise on Mohammed and said she also showed improvement.
“She is our leading bowler and earlier she was struggling a bit in terms of taking wickets, but that did not mean she was not bowling well,” Campbell said.
“You could see she was trying a few new things, which she worked on during the camp, and I knew once she found her range the wickets would come.”
Last month, the West Indies Cricket Board invited Saqlain to host a three-week clinic at the Sagicor West Indies High Performance Centre, where he worked with some of the leading spinners in the region.
Saqlain took 208 wickets in 49 Tests for Pakistan and another 288 scalps from 169 ODIs in a successful international career.
Ottis Gibson, head coach of the West Indies men’s team, played a key role in organising the clinic and said he too was pleased to see the early results.
“From the start, all the bowlers were very keen and we saw some growth even during the period in Barbados,” he said.
“The camp went really well and these are signs that Saqlain’s outstanding work is already bearing fruit. “It’s great to see how the girls have improved and are making solid contributions towards the team’s success.” (BA/WICB)
