GROS ISLET, St Lucia, CMC – West Indies, Women’s captain Hayley Matthews said she does not expect Ireland Women to be any pushovers when her side comes face-to-face with them in a white-ball international home series over the next fortnight in St Lucia.
The two sides play three One-day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals – all at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground – in the only international home series scheduled for the Caribbean side this year.
“I think pretty much just kind of using the home advantage of knowing the pitches and the grounds well,” Matthews said during a virtual news conference on Saturday.
“They gave us quite a challenge in the (Twenty20) World Cup, but I think the biggest thing is making sure we get over that line all the time, which we’re looking to do this series continuously.”
West Indies Women have won seven of the eight ODIs and all five T20Is they have contested against the Irish – and Matthews is anxious to keep that record in place and build on the hard work they have put into preparing.
“I think we’re looking for just good consistent performances,” she said. “We’re a team that’s been growing together as well over the last couple of months, and I think over the last few weeks, we’ve been in the training camp for the last ten days or so and working hard, so I think for us, we do want to see that hard work kind of pay off.”
West Indies Women will be under a new direction with former Jamaica men’s captain and West Indies left-handed opener Robert Samuels taking over the head coaching role from compatriot and former West Indies captain and fast bowler Courtney Walsh on an interim basis.
“We would have worked with Robbie in the previous year, and it is good to have him back now, and the girls have been working pretty well with him,” Matthews said.
“The structure and everything about having him in the camp for the first few weeks. It has been good to be a part of this camp, so hopefully, we’ve got good things coming up this series because of the work we have put in.”
The three ODIs on June 26, 28, and July 1 will be the team’s third fixture in the ICC Women’s Championship, where they are pushing to earn points to achieve a top-five position to qualify directly for the Women’s CWC 2025.
After playing six matches each, West Indies and Ireland are the two bottom teams, with the Caribbean side having won once and the visitors yet to open their account.
The three T20Is will all be played on July 4, 6, and 8 at the same venue.
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