The head coach of the West Indies women’s cricket team, Shane Deitz, has openly acknowledged his disappointment following the team’s difficult white-ball campaign against the Sri Lanka women’s cricket team.
Playing at home, the Caribbean side endured a frustrating stretch, dropping the One Day International series 2-1 before suffering defeat in the T20 International series as well. Sri Lanka claimed that contest 2-0 in the three-match series after the opening fixture was abandoned with no result.
For Deitz, the performances fell well below expectations.
“Obviously I’m very disappointed, we didn’t play very good cricket so that’s it. There aren’t a lot of things to be pleased about.”
Batting struggles undermine campaign
A recurring issue throughout both series was the Windies’ inability to produce consistent scores with the bat.
In the ODI leg, only Jannillea Glasgow and Stafanie Taylor managed to reach the half-century mark, leaving the batting lineup searching for stability.
The problems persisted in the shorter format. In fact, the highest score by a West Indies batter during the T20I series was an unbeaten 32 from Chinelle Henry in the final match.
Those modest returns underscored the team’s broader struggle to build meaningful partnerships or impose themselves on the Sri Lankan attack.
Long layoff tooki toll
Deitz believes the team’s lack of recent match practice played a major role in the underwhelming performances.
“It’s been eight months since we last played a game. We looked very rusty as a unit, our combinations weren’t working and we just looked like we hadn’t played for a while, which was obviously the case,” he said.
Despite the setbacks, the Australian coach sees the recent action as valuable preparation ahead of a much larger challenge later this year.
“But now we’ve got some cricket before the World Cup which is perfect for us.”
Young players offer encouragement
While the results were disappointing, Deitz pointed to several emerging players who made positive impressions during the series.
Glasgow’s contributions in the ODIs, in particular, caught the coach’s attention.
“I think the takeaways would be a couple of fringe players stepping up and Glasgow played two great innings in the ODIs. She’s starting to establish herself as an international cricketer so that was great to see.”
Another young talent earning praise was Jahzara Claxton, whom Deitz believes has significant potential at the international level.
“Jahzara Claxton is also stepping up as an international cricketer, she showed a lot of versatility and has a big future.”
The coach added that the development of younger players remains a priority as the team rebuilds momentum.
“So we’re looking for those youngsters to get a lot better and develop their games.”
Tough test ahead against Australia
The Windies Women will soon have an opportunity to respond when they face the formidable Australia women’s cricket team in an upcoming white-ball series.
The teams are scheduled to contest three T20 Internationals in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis, followed by three One Day Internationals in Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines between March 19 and April 2.
For Deitz and his squad, the series will provide a critical opportunity to sharpen their combinations and rediscover form as they build toward the next major global tournament.
