Photo Credit: Facebook Profile Photo of Dr. Kishore Shallow
Cricket West Indies (CWI) President Kishore Shallow has openly acknowledged the significant challenges facing women’s cricket in the Caribbean, emphasizing the need for structural reforms to close the gap between regional and international competition.
The struggles of the West Indies women’s team were evident in their recent One-Day International (ODI) series in India, where they were whitewashed 3-0 after a five-wicket loss in the final match. Prior to that, they lost the three-match T20I series 1-2.
“The women need a lot of work because a lot of the issues you see internationally are because of our regional and national structure,” Shallow said during an appearance on the Mason and Guest cricket radio show.
“Players are not competitive when they play regional cricket. The gap is so wide between regional and international cricket…We have to up-skill our regional players,” he added.
He also stressed the importance of grassroots development for long-term progress. “We have to start nationally, getting more players across the different territories to play cricket at the junior stage… and that is really when you are going to see a transformation,” Shallow stated.
Shallow also confirmed that Ann Browne-John, the former lead selector for the women’s senior team, remains part of the selection process in the new structure introduced by CWI. “She is one of the talent pathway managers, which helps to identify the talent for women. We have identified a male as well, but I don’t think they have reached an agreement yet,” he explained.
Under the new selection structure, which was introduced in September, final team selection responsibility lies with the Head Coach, with support from Talent Managers and Talent Identifiers. While Shallow confirmed Browne-John’s involvement, official announcements about other appointments for the men’s and women’s programs are still awaited.
West Indies women’s Head Coach Shane Deitz also emphasized the need for a more comprehensive player development approach. “We’re never going to be a successful team unless we’ve got 11, 15, really 20 world-class players. How we do that is what we’re looking at,” Deitz said.
“There’s a lot of things we need to do better back in the Caribbean—regional cricket, consistent 12-month programmes for players in the squad, outside the squad, so there’s obviously a lot of work to do,” he added.
With a busy schedule ahead, including regional competitions and World Cup qualifiers, the focus remains on addressing the systemic issues within women’s cricket to ensure the West Indies women’s team can compete consistently at the international level.
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Name of Author: Cricexec Staff
