MEDIA RELEASE
West Indies and South Africa begin preparations for upcoming ICC Women’s World Cup 2013 in Mumbai
Stafanie Taylor will be the cynosure of all eyes as she plays a part for the West Indies in the side’s upcoming five-match ODI series against South Africa from 7 January at Basseterre in St Kitts.
The series is the last international engagement for both West Indies and South Africa before the ICC Women’s World Cup 2013 gets underway in Mumbai. While West Indies is drawn in Group A alongside England, India and Sri Lanka; South Africa is in Group B alongside Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan in the showpiece event scheduled to be held from 31 January to 17 February.
Taylor is currently placed second on the Reliance ICC Women’s Player Rankings for ODI batters. The 21-year-old West Indies batter trails number-one ranked India captain Mithali Raj by 30 ratings points at 737.
The five-match series against South Africa offers Taylor an opportunity to close the gap between herself and India’s captain. The other batters within the top 20 to be seen in action during the series include Deandra Dottin (12th) and Merissa Aguilleira (13th) of the West Indies and South Africa’s Trisha Chetty (16th) and former captain Cri-Zelda Brits (20th), all of whom will be hoping to make inroads on the rankings table.
Taylor also tops the Reliance ICC Women’s Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders and will have a chance to further strengthen her hold of the position during the series. Australia’s Lisa Sthalekar is currently ranked second on the table.
Taylor is also ranked seventh on the Reliance ICC Women’s Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, showing how strong a player the current ICC Women’s ODI Player of the Year is and the upcoming series, along with the ICC Women’s World Cup 2013, will prove an ideal opportunity for the Jamaican to cement her places in the various tables she features.
Players who appear in the top 20 of the bowlers’ table who will be playing in the upcoming series in St Kitts and Dominica, include the South African pair of Sunette Loubser (14th), and Shibnam Ismail (18th) as well as Taylor’s West Indies team-mate Shakera Selman (19th).
About the ICC Women’s World Cup
The Women’s World Cup has been running for longer than the men’s version and was first staged in England in 1973, when it was won by the hosts, which beat Australia by 118 runs in the final at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Since then there have been a further eight tournaments with Australia winning five of them (1978, 1982, 1988, 1997 and 2005), England winning twice (1993 and 2009) and New Zealand (2000) triumphing once.
The tournament has been staged twice each in England (1973 and 1993), India (1978 and 1997) , New Zealand (1982 and 2000) and Australia (1988 and 2009) as well as South Africa (2005).
The tournament has grown in stature after International Women’s Cricket Council merged with International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2005. It was staged under the aegis of the ICC for the first time in 2009.
