THE CAPTAINS OF hosts Windward Islands Under-19 women’s cricket team, and the Trinidad and Tobago Under-19 women’s team have called for greater support for women’s cricket in the Caribbean.

Captain of the Windward Islands Under-19 Women’s Cricket Team, Zaida James called for greater public support for the young cricketers as they prepare for the ICC World Under-19 Cricket Championships scheduled for South Africa in 2023. She told SEARCHLIGHT that there is need for the games to be shown live so persons can see the talent the region possesses, and if media personnel can conduct interviews and photograph the matches, “That would give the Caribbean much to be happy about going into the World Cup.”

She also believes that a lot more needs to be done by everyone if the players are to be properly developed so the Windward Islands can do better in the future.

Meanwhile, the captain of the Trinidad and Tobago Under-19 team, Shalini Samarooin who had her first series as skipper pointed out that there is not much support for women’s cricket, “For I know that there are many ladies out there who want to play the sport, but they do not have the correct company around them to move forward or to even start the training that they should start. I think the women’s cricket needs more attention in the Caribbean.”

Speaking of the Series against the Trinidad and Tobago Under-19 women, which the visitors won 4-1 James said there was a huge improvement regarding the challenges encountered visà- vis the series against the USA Under-19 Women in January 2022.

James, who topped the overall batting averages said that the players on the Windward Islands team, “Need to do a lot more work with their game, they need more discipline in their batting.”

She admitted to the Trinidadians placing more pressure on her than the Americans did, and was not happy with her returns with the bat. She had scores

of 71 not out, 12, 6, 29, and 37; a total of 155 runs, but the next best aggregate score from a Windward Islands batter was 57 runs by Jannillea Glasgow. In the fourth and fifth games of the Browne-John/ McIntyre Series, James batted with a hamstring injury, and told SEARCHLIGHT that: “I tried not to focus on my injury, but tried not to force it as to injure myself more and not being able to play any more games. I tried to remain positive at all times, and this is the first time that I am playing with a hamstring injury…I am not accustomed to dealing with that.”

However she thinks that the experience will serve her well going into the future as she is now more aware how to manage such injuries.

Upon returning to St Lucia, she said her first priority is to undergo treatment to heal the injury and then prepare for the regional Women’s Under-19 Cricket Tournament scheduled to be held in Trinidad and Tobago later this year.