ST JOHN’S, An­tigua – West In­dies Women’s se­lec­tors have stuck with all but one of the play­ers that were part of the high­ly suc­cess­ful Tour of Pak­istan for their forth­com­ing as­sign­ment next month in Sri Lan­ka.

Shabi­ka Gajn­abi has re­placed am­bidex­trous Wind­ward Is­lands all-rounder Janil­lea Glas­gow in the 15-mem­ber squad for the trip that fea­tures three ICC Women’s Cham­pi­onship One-day In­ter­na­tion­als and three Twen­ty20 In­ter­na­tion­als.

Gajn­abi got the nod over Glas­gow, 19, to give the Caribbean side an­oth­er top-or­der bat­ting op­tion af­ter a cou­ple of de­cent knocks in the West In­dies Women’s Cham­pi­onship in March in St Kitts and to shore up an area that was ex­posed when for­mer cap­tain Stafanie Tay­lor got in­jured in Pak­istan.

The 23-year-old Guyanese has al­ready ap­peared in 17 ODIs and 31 T20Is for West In­dies Women af­ter mak­ing her in­ter­na­tion­al de­but four years ago, so she will not be a stranger to this lev­el of the sport or her team­mates.

Lead se­lec­tor Ann Browne-John said the ODI match­es will be cru­cial be­cause they count to­wards di­rect qual­i­fi­ca­tion for the next ICC Women’s ODI Crick­et World Cup.

The top five teams in the Women’s Cham­pi­onship and hosts In­dia au­to­mat­i­cal­ly qual­i­fy for the 2025 WCWC – and West In­dies Women are cur­rent­ly sev­enth in the ta­ble, while Sri Lan­ka is eighth, but they are lev­el on 14 points.

The three match­es against the Sri Lankans will be ex­clu­sive­ly played at the Galle In­ter­na­tion­al Crick­et Sta­di­um on June 15, 18, and 21.

“The ODI se­ries serves as a cru­cial step­ping-stone to­wards au­to­mat­ic qual­i­fi­ca­tion for the Women’s Crick­et World Cup, pro­vid­ing an es­sen­tial op­por­tu­ni­ty for the team to gain more valu­able points in the ICC Women’s Cham­pi­onship,” Browne-John said.

The lead se­lec­tor said the T20Is will serve as prepa­ra­tion for the side for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup lat­er in the year in Bangladesh, where West In­dies Women will be one of the 10 teams tak­ing part in the tour­na­ment.

The three match­es against the Sri Lankans will be ex­clu­sive­ly played at the Ra­japak­sa Sta­di­um on June 24, 26, and 28 in Ham­ban­to­ta.

“The tour al­so al­lows the squad, dur­ing the T20I se­ries, to con­tin­ue to pre­pare for the up­com­ing T20 World Cup, which takes place in Sep­tem­ber in Bangladesh,” she said.

“The sim­i­lar sub-con­ti­nen­tal con­di­tions will help the team to re­fine their skills strate­gies, build syn­er­gy, and as­sess their strengths and ar­eas for im­prove­ment against qual­i­ty op­po­si­tion.

“The ex­pe­ri­ence gained here will be in­valu­able as they progress to­wards the T20 World Cup, en­sur­ing they are well-pre­pared and in peak form for the chal­lenges ahead.”

Bar­ba­di­an all-rounder Hay­ley Matthews will again lead the side with Guyanese wick­et­keep­er-bats­man She­maine Camp­belle as her deputy, and Crick­et West In­dies in­di­cat­ed the squad leaves on Sun­day for sev­en days of train­ing and ac­cli­ma­ti­sa­tion in the Sri Lan­ka cap­i­tal of Colom­bo.

SQUAD

Hay­ley Matthews (cap­tain), She­maine Camp­belle (vice-cap­tain), Aaliyah Al­leyne, Shamil­ia Con­nell, Afy Fletch­er, Cher­ry Ann Fras­er, Shabi­ka Gajn­abi, Chinelle Hen­ry, Zai­da James, Qiana Joseph, Chedean Na­tion, Kar­ish­ma Ramharack, Stafanie Tay­lor, Rasha­da Williams, Kate Wilmot.

(CMC)