West Indies Women's coach: Stafanie Taylor’s absence was a big blow

WEST Indies Women’s coach Courtney Walsh said not having regular captain Stafanie Taylor available was a “big blow” after West Indies Women were outplayed in the One Day International (ODI) series against South Africa Women.

Prior to the ODI series, the teams drew the three-match T20 series 1-1 after the first match was abandoned because of rain.

In the five-match ODI series which ended on Sunday, West Indies Women barely prevented a 5-0 sweep. West Indies Women needed a super over in the final match as the series ended 4-1.

Taylor, one of the leading players for the West Indies Women over the past decade, was unavailable.

“That was the biggest misfortune for us losing her as captain (and) as a top player for both series,” Walsh told journalists on Zoom, on Thursday.

Walsh said a “family issue” and covid19-related issues kept Taylor out.

Taylor tested negative for covid19, but because of contact tracing, she could not play.

“To me, that was the biggest blow not having her involved as a player, her leadership style (and) being a leader for the team," said Walsh, the legendary WI men's fast bowler and ex-captain. "I think a lot of players who look up to her missed her from that respect or that regard…the good thing from that is that for me it gave others a chance for us to look at them, to see how they will deal with the pressure and how they will cope with it so we could plan going forward.”

Walsh knew South Africa Women would have tested the West Indies Women. “We always knew it was going to be a challenging tour. South Africa has been playing really decent cricket, so it gave us a good yardstick as to where we are and what we really need to do.”

Walsh said the batting needs to improve, as West Indies Women struggled to post competitive totals.

In the three ODI matches in which West Indies Women batted first, the regional team recorded scores of 153, 120 and 157.

Rashada Williams was one of the standout batters for the West Indies Women scoring 157 runs in three innings at an average of 78.50.

“We have to produce…we are trying to juggle with the batting order, looking at people for different positions and looking at where they have to perform. As you said, if we not getting any runs we are not going to do well, so the ladies have to put their hands up and bat,” Walsh said.