WI women's coach wants 'attacking cricket' on England tour

A 15-member West Indies women's team is scheduled to depart the Caribbean on May 13 for a white-ball tour of England which will include three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three T20s. The tour will run from May 21-June 8. The tour will coincide with the ODI leg of the Windies men's tour of the UK which will span from May 21-June 3 and includes matches against both England and Ireland.

The Windies women's team will be captained by star allrounder Hayley Matthews, with Shemaine Campbelle serving as her deputy. On May 11, Campbelle helped steer Guyana to an exciting super-over win over 2024 champs Jamaica in the final of the West Indies Women's T20 Blaze competition in St Vincent.

The team features former captain Stafanie Taylor, spinners Afy Fletcher, Zaida James and Trinidad and Tobago's Karishma Ramharack, who missed the T20 Blaze tourney because of injury. The hard-hitting Qiana Joseph is also in the team, alongside Barbados seamer Aaliyah Alleyne.

There is no room for the Jamaican pair of allrounder Chinelle Henry and wicket-keeper/batter Rashada Williams, though. Henry picked up an injury in the T20 Blaze final. The Jamaican pair have been replaced by Guyanese allrounder Realeanna Grimmond and St Kitts pacer Jahzara Claxton.

Windies coach Shane Deitz said the tour presents a fantastic opportunity for his team and wants them to do their talking with bat and ball.

"The talk is cheap off the pitch. We're going to put that talk into action and go out against England and play some good cricket," Deitz said, via a May 13 Cricket West Indies release.

"We've got the T20s first and that's where we have played our better cricket in the past 12-18 months, so we're looking forward to getting the tour off to a good start and play some good, attacking cricket – the West Indian way."

Deitz said the tour gives his team the chance to re-establish themselves as a world-class team with world-class players, after they narrowly missed out on World Cup qualification last month.

The series begins with the first T20 at the Spitfire Ground, Canterbury, on May 21, with the second game being played at the The First Central County Ground, Hove, on May 23. The third and final T20 will be played on May 26 in Chelmsford. The ODI series will be played from May 30-June 7.

West Indies women's team:

Hayley Matthews (captain), Shemaine Campbelle (vice-captain), Aaliyah Alleyne, Jahzara Claxton, Afy Fletcher, Cherry-Ann Fraser, Shanika Gajnabi, Jannillea Glasgow, Realeanna Grimmond, Zaida James, Qiana Joseph, Mandy Mangru, Asmini Munisar, Karishma Ramharack, Stafanie Taylor.

Coach: Shane Deitz

Assistant coach: Ryan Austin

Assistant coach: Damien Wright

Manager: Sheena Gooding