West Indies Women’s Head Coach Courtney Walsh has finally found the time
to sit down and reflected on the West Indies Women’s campaign at the ICC
Women’s Cricket World Cup, in New Zealand. A legend of the game, one of
the greatest fast bowlers of all time, Walsh has been the chief architect of the team’s growth
and development in the last 2 ½ years – in the build-up to the marquee global event. His one
thought on the team’s performance is that he is “proud” of what they achieved.
Ahead of the trip to New Zealand, West Indies were seen as “underdogs” and few observers
gave them a chance of making the final four. They had to do it the hard way – via the qualifiers
tournament in Zimbabwe – and then they had to overcome some of the top-flight teams to
make it through to the play-off stage.
They had a brilliant start with a sensational win over New Zealand on the opening day and then
toppled defending champs England in the next match in another thriller. This was part
of their “box office” preliminary round and that was the impetus for them to push
through to the semis. From the first ball the energy in the team was obvious and
this was matched by some dynamism and athleticism on the field.
“It was a good tournament, I felt there was some very
good cricket played by all the teams involved, with
some very exciting games. I think the ICC and
women’s cricket in general should be very proud
the way the tournament went, and the
competitiveness demonstrated,”
Walsh said.
“From a West Indies point of view,
I’m particularly pleased we made it
to the semi-finals. Coming here, if
anyone said we would have made it (to
semi-finals) I would have taken that. The
girls showed a lot of fight to get us into
the semifinals and I’m happy for them and
happy for West Indies cricket. I would say
it was a good campaign for us. I know the
results probably didn’t look that way in a
couple of the games, but the tournament
overall, and what we achieved is something
that everyone involved should be proud of.”
There were several memorable moments for the
#MaroonWarriors, which will be remembered for a
long time. On the opening day, Deandra Dottin stunned
the hosts when she produced a memorable last over
which included two wickets and a run out. Earlier on
that day Hayley Matthews made a career-defining 119
to take the Player-of-the-Match award.
Next up against England, it was wicket-keeper
Shemaine Campbelle who showed her immense skills
with a match-winning 66 as the West Indies won by
seven runs, with the help of some clever bowling
by Anisa Mohammed, as she became just the fourth
bowler in women’s history to take 300 international
wickets. Campbelle and Matthews featured again in
the four-run win over Bangladesh – the keeper made a
face-saving 53 not out while the allrounder took 4-15.
“It was good to see persons putting their
hands up and standing up for the team.
We saw individuals growing as players on
and off the field and we want to see even
more of that moving forward. To come
through the qualifiers and then go on
to make it to the semi-finals is a great
achievement … It is a very big statement.
Hopefully, we don’t have to go through
the qualifiers again as that was not an
easy task. It has been very pleasing
for me and for the other coaches and
members of the team and the way we
carried out our duties,” Walsh said.
“Yes, I know a few questions will be asked,
and some people will be disappointed
(didn’t make the final), but overall it
was good to see improvements being
made by everyone,” Walsh said. “When I
first got the job the idea was for us to start
moving up the table (ICC rankings) and
at the end of this prestigious competition
we have moved up the table so that’s
something to be pleased about … it’s a
work in progress.”
Walsh Proud Of West Indies Women’s World Cup Performance!
