ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Vice-captain Anisa Mohammed is set to play a record fifth ICC 50-over World Cup after being named in a 15-member squad today for next month’s tournament in New Zealand.
The 33-year-old off-spinner is the squad’s longest serving player, having featured in 136 One-Day Internationals since making her debut nearly two decades ago.
Her first World Cup came as a 16-year-old when she was included in a squad alongside legends Stephanie Power, Verena Felicien and Juliana Nero, for the 2005 showpiece in South Africa.
Mohammed will now join the likes of captain Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin, both of whom have also played over 100 ODIs, for the campaign in the South Pacific which runs from March 4 to April 3.
“The squad selected shows a blend of youth and experience,” said women’s lead selector, Ann Browne-John.
“We have Anisa Mohammed who’s playing in her fifth World Cup and will help guide the younger ones selected. We have five players who have had their maiden Cricket World Cup selection.
“The team just completed a series against South Africa where the players got good preparation before the tournament.
“There were some relatively good showings with a few players having outstanding performances and it is expected that they would raise their levels even further during the competition.”
The squad represents the one which toured South Africa last month, with Jannillea Glasgow, Mandy Mangru and Kaysia Shultz – all of whom were part of that series – included this time as travelling reserves.
There are eight surviving members from the nightmare that was the 2017 World Cup in England when West Indies won two of seven matches to finish sixth and miss out on the semi-finals.
While Browne-John acknowledged the Caribbean side would face another difficult challenge, she said expectations of the unit were still high.
“We know that it’s not going to be an easy World Cup. We know that we’re not ranked one of the top teams,” she said.
“But having said that, the girls have been training very hard, we had quite a good series in South Africa although we lost the series 2-1. We were happy with what we saw in South Africa and we are expecting the girls will give a good showing in the World Cup.
“We have some world class players … [there] so many players I can name who have been on the world stage for quite a long while so although we have some young players and we have players who are development players … we think that the bulk of the team have international experience to acquit themselves quite creditably.”
West Indies open their campaign against the hosts at Bay Oval in Tauranga and follow up with another difficult assignment against reigning champions England at University Oval in Dunedin
The semi-finals are carded for Wellington and Christchurch on March 30 and 31, with the final set for Christchurch three days later.
SQUAD – Stafanie Taylor (captain), Anisa Mohammed (vice-captain), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Cherry Ann Fraser, Chinelle Henry, Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews, Chedean Nation, Karishma Ramharack, Shakera Selman, Rashada Williams.
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