Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Monday 21st June 2021 announced an eight-match white-ball series between the West Indies Women and Pakistan Women and a historic six match white-ball series between the West Indies Women A Team and Pakistan Women A Team, with both series taking place in Antigua from June 30th to July 18th.
The Tour will see the return of Women’s international cricket to the Caribbean for the first time in nineteen months due to the impact of COVID-19.
Pakistan will arrive in the Caribbean today (Wednesday 23rd June) ahead of the T20 International (T20I) Series, which starts on June 30th. The T20Is and T20 A Team matches will be played on the same day and at the same venues as “double-headers”.
The teams will then switch gears as they head into a five-match CG Insurance One Day International (ODI) Series and three-match CG Insurance A Team One-Day Series starting on July 7th and 10th respectively. All matches will take place at the two ICC accredited grounds in Antigua, the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and the Coolidge Cricket Ground.
The ODI series will be vital preparation for both teams as they will face each other in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers that are due to take place in Sri Lanka in December for one of the three remaining qualifying spots for the Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, 2022.
(l-r) Saint Lucia’s female cricketers Qiana Joseph and Zaida James currently in Antigua in CWI High Performance Camp (Photo: CWI)
CWI’s investment in Women’s cricket is one of eight key initiatives within CWI’s strategic plan, designed to develop the next generation of women cricketers, increase participation in the sport and generate additional opportunities for competition at the highest level.
CWI’s Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams said, “This is very a significant home tour for our women, and we are delighted that our counterparts at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have worked with us to arrange these two series despite all the challenges we faced with COVID-19. CWI continues to invest in our international Women’s programme by hosting extended High – Performance Camps between tours, two of which have already been held this year.
In addition, the opportunity to host our first ever ‘A’ Team Series is brilliant, as it means that our developing players will get the chance to compete against high -quality international opponents and push for selection to the senior team.
The series is also an important part of our preparation for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in December. Our goal post this Pakistan series, is to have our squad play more international opposition and take part in Regional Tournament before heading to the Qualifiers in Sri Lanka at the end of the year.”
The West Indies Women last played in the Caribbean in a bilateral series against India in November 2019, following which all home cricket was postponed in 2020 due to the impact of Covid-19. The West Indies Women last played on the Sandals West Indies Women’s Tour to England in September 2020 in a five-match T20I Series.
Match scheduled: West A Team versus Pakistan A Team – T20I: June 30th, July 2nd, 4th.
ODI; July 10th, 13th, 16th.
Match scheduled: West Indies women versus Pakistan women – T20I: June 30th, July 2nd, 4th.
ODI: July 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th and 18th.