Five years ago, she was a braces-wearing, chubby cheeks 13-year-old in the stands at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in Saint Lucia. She came to watch the West Indies Women play and was excited and overjoyed when she got the chance to meet West Indies Women’s all-rounder Hayley Matthews at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Fast-forward to February 2023 and Zaida James has earned a call-up to the West Indies Senior Women’s team, after smashing back-to-back half-centuries in the ICC Women’s U19 World Cup, one month prior.
Zaida is all of five-feet tall but has the confidence and ambition of someone much mightier. A gifted athlete, she started off playing tennis, football and cricket on the fields and courts in Saint Lucia. As time went by, her interest in cricket grew, this was aided by a father who loves the game and is her Number one supporter.
“Be your best in whatever you want to do” that was the advice given to her by her dad and it is a philosophy she has stuck with throughout her young career. “It felt amazing because I have been working really hard for the past few months preparing for the U19 team. I wanted to cry with happiness when I got selected to the Senior team” she said.
She scored 22 runs on debut against India in the Tri-Nations Series at Buffalo Park in East London and now she is looking forward to playing her second match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup against India on Wednesday. First ball is 3pm (9am Eastern Caribbean/8am Jamaica).
