The West Indies Cricket Board has announced that England women’s five-match One-Day International (ODI) series against the West Indies in Jamaica will go ahead as planned, with the action getting underway on Saturday (8th October).
The news follows confirmation that facilities at the Trelawny Stadium in Montego Bay and Sabina Park in Kingston – due to host the first two and final three ODIs respectively – are fit for play, after Hurricane Matthew hit the Caribbean island earlier in the week.
England women’s captain, Heather Knight, said: “It’s great news that this five-match ODI series against the West Indies will get underway as planned on Saturday in Trelawny, and that conditions at Sabina Park on the south of the island in Kingston have been confirmed by the West Indies Cricket Board as being ok.
“Our preparations have been disrupted a bit due to Hurricane Matthew, but we are incredibly lucky that the storm didn’t hit Jamaica as hard as was originally anticipated. We can now fully concentrate on the cricket, and look forward to the action starting at the weekend.
“This is a big series for both teams as we get into the business end of the ICC Women’s Championship, so the final three ODIs in Kingston, which count towards that, are really important.”
All five of England women’s fixtures against the West Indies will be played in Jamaica during a two-week window, starting on Saturday 8th and Monday 10th October with the first two ODIs at the Trelawny Stadium in the Montego Bay area of the Caribbean island. The remaining three ODIs will form England’s sixth round of matches in the ICC Women’s Championship – the qualification tournament for the ICC Women’s World Cup in England in 2017 – and will be played at Sabina Park, Kingston on 14th, 16th and 19th October.
Stafanie Taylor’s West Indies side currently sit in second place in the ICC Women’s Championship table, one place and one point above England, having last been in action in South Africa in February, when they recorded a 2-1 ODI series victory. With just two rounds of the Championship remaining, a 3-0 score line against the West Indies would see Heather Knight’s England side secure one of the four automatic qualification spots for the home 50-over World Cup next summer.
Following the series in the West Indies, England women will travel to Sri Lanka in November to contest their final round of the ICC Women’s Championship.
Report courtesy of the ECB
