-legendary pacer could help reshape bowling attack
Legendary speedster Courtney Walsh’s recent appointment as head coach of the West Indies Women team could easily transform the former world champs back to the machine they once were.
The ex-T20 World Cup champs are arguably one of the top 5 teams in the women’s arena, boasting a number of the world’s top female players along with a contingent of upcoming stars from across the different territories.
Walsh, the West Indies most prolific Test pacer is an ICC cricket Hall-of-Famer with well over 500 scalps, could easily reshape the team’s look and their approach on the field. Brining his experience as a bowling coach for the Bangladesh men’s senior team as well as the Kings XI Punjab, Walsh could be exactly what the squad required.
During his virtual press conference on Monday, the Jamaica was adamant that the ladies were in need of an overhaul going forward. The ladies went down to England 5-0 in the T20 series, a shocking result for a unit with a few players who were at the top of the world a few years ago. Walsh admitted that his areas of concern for his new team was the level of confidence and their state of mind. The new Coach was also clear on his mission to help the women regain their winning aura, something which seemed to have faded a touch after being dethroned as World T20 champs.
“My idea, plan and strategy is to re-focus, re-energize and to look at the talented players we have and work out how we can improve with the players we have”, said Walsh on Monday, a part of his presser which screamed the most with regard to his plans for the team.
Batting in England had been mixed if not limited to the likes of Stefanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin primarily, but with a talented line-up it is likely they will shrug off any future batting issues and make amends. However, it is their bowling department which lacked the venom by the pacers or any magic from the spinners. But with Walsh now the tactical leader of the side, his knowledge particularly in the bowling section could see the Windies bowlers having a new look down the line.
Another key area Walsh spoke on was the mental aspect of cricket and the importance of creating and maintaining a comfortable environment for the women. He noted that it will be a key task to return the smiles to the faces of the players, while reinstalling any loss of confidence and self-belief. With a team consisting of mostly young women, despite them being among the core batch of players in the side for the past few years, having a battled-tested figure like Walsh as a head coach is highly invaluable.
The entire reinvigoration process depends on how fast Walsh can start to implement his plans. Given his familiarity with some of the players it is likely that the gelling process will be slightly easier as compared to if the ladies had a different coach with little to no knowledge of the unit. It can be expected that the women under the coaching and guidance of Walsh will be a force to be reckoned with as soon as they are up and running on all cylinders. The next step according to the new coach, was to outline his future plans and endeavors before the Cricket West Indies (CWI) heads, as to faster Kickstart this new path the women’s Renaissance.
