THE No.1 SPOT in women’s cricket!
That’s the goal of the West Indies cricketers as they left the Caribbean yesterday afternoon for a tour of India where they will play five One-Day Internationals and three Twenty20 matches.
“I think that’s the ultimate goal: being No. 1 in the two forms – Twenty20 and 50-overs – of the game,” coach Sherwin Campbell told SUNSPORT in a wide-ranging interview at the Grantley Adams International Airport.
“To beat everyone at this level. I think that is our aim now.
“We are making small steps forward. We’ve been to the World Cup T20 semi-finals. It is the first time for West Indies cricket. And I think, next T20 World Cup, we should be making one step further from there, as we want to be No.1 in the next couple of years,” a confident Campbell said.
Improvement
The former West Indies opening batsman – who hit four centuries including a double in 52 Tests – said he was pleased with the improvement the women had made in the past year.
He singled out a series win over World 50-over champions England.
“I think the girls have made huge progress.
To beat England, the world champions in a One-Day series and a T20 series in just a year-and-a-half together, that’s really a big achievement,” the coach declared.
“England is an established team, which has been playing women’s cricket for quite a while. They are one of the most senior teams and to beat them, a champion team, at this early stage, it is really a big step forward for West Indies’ women’s cricket.”
Campbell said the strength of the side was in the all-round ability of the players.
“Obviously, we [have] got some good players in Deandra Dottin and Stafanie Taylor, but everyone in the team can bowl, so we have a lot of variety in our bowling.
All-round team
“We have got five or six seamers, we have got four or five spinners, and everyone can bat.
The batting stretches pretty far down, so we have a good all-round team.
“We are also good in the field, so we have a lot of options,” he said.
“They are grabbing the opportunities and within every series, they are showing some improvement,” Campbell said.
“They know that they have to continue working on their fitness and they are doing that because they know they have to be fit to succeed at this level.
“But I think one of the main reasons that they are going well is because they learn very quickly and they are improving with every tour.”
