Cricket West Indies (CWI) has offered retainer contracts to 18 women players – the highest by the board in Women’s cricket history.
The contract included 15 players in the 2020-2021 session but has been expanded with three more players keeping in mind the development of women’s sport.
The three new players include orthodox left-arm spinner Kaysia Shultz, all-rounder Qiana Joseph and right arm-pacer Shawnisha Hector.
CWI’s lead selector for Women’s and Girls cricket, Ann Browne-John, in a media press release on Friday argued that despite only playing five T20Is in the last year against England, the Windies’ women were able to keep themselves fit and match ready hence it was the right decision to retain all fifteen contracts.
“The last contract period did not see many international matches as we played only five T20I matches against England. Despite this, the contracted players were able to keep themselves fit and match ready. It was therefore the fairest decision to return all fifteen to contract,” Browne-John stated.
Reflecting on the addition of three new players, Browne-John said that the lack of an orthodox left-arm bowler led them to widen the contract and include Shultz and Joseph. The former Caribbean player further added that pacer Hector deserved to be awarded for her hard work in the training camps.
“There has been a lack of left-arm orthodox bowlers in the region, therefore Joseph and Schultz will hopefully help fill this void; with Joseph also bringing her left-hand batting skills, which is also limited in the region. Hector is one of the bright young fast bowlers who has been bowling with great aggression in the past few training camps,” the former West Indies’ coach asserted.
Earlier, CWI had announced the Men’s central contract for 2021-22.
List of West Indies Women’s Contracted players for 2021-2022 season:
Aaliyah Alleyne, Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Cherry Ann Fraser, Shabika Gajnabi, Sheneta Grimmond, Shawnisha Hector, Chinelle Henry, Qiana Joseph, Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed, Chedean Nation, Karishma Ramharack, Kaysia Schultz, Shakera Salman, Stefanie Taylor.
