Victorious Jamaica women's team returns home

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

JAMAICA'S WOMEN cricketers, fresh from their triumph in the just-concluded West Indies Women's Cricket Tournament, arrived in the island yesterday an elated bunch.

The girls, who claimed their fourth regional title, ended the one-week tournament unbeaten and, for the first time in nine years, gave the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) a strong reason for developing women's cricket locally.

"It was wonderful. It is a good reward for the girls. They worked and trained hard," said coach Cleon Smith.

"The training leading up to the tournament is what I think took us to the next level, as with a number of warm-up matches and training camps, we were able to get the girls in condition and 'nick' which paid dividends in the tournament," he added.

The Jamaicans played six matches in seven days and were victorious in four with the other two ending in no-result draws due to rain and abandonment due to organisational glitches.

Taylor outstanding

West Indies opener Stephanie Taylor, who staked her claim to the honour of being the top woman cricketer in the region with two brilliant undefeated centuries, was Jamaica's most outstanding player while fellow West Indies representative Shadeen Nation, Shanel Daley - daughter of former Jamaican batsman, Aaron Daley, and Vaneesa Watts provided support.

"It was a fantastic tournament for me personally, but I could not have achieved what I achieved without the support of my teammates," said Taylor, who was also the most outstanding batter for the West Indies when they toured Europe recently. "It's a joy and honour to represent the country and I only hope that I will continue to deliver and make my country and region proud," she said.

According to Smith, the team was hungry for the title as before the tournament Jamaica only had two players on the West Indies team while, other countries such as Barbados and Trinidad had three and four, respectively.

This, he said, along with Jamaica's exploits at the Beijing Olympics helped to motivate the girls as a number of them wanted to make the team for the Women's World Cup and World 20/20 Champion-ship to be held next year.