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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados -- The West Indies Women’s team departed from the Caribbean on Friday for their Twenty20 tour of England. The Windies will play five matches against England before moving on to Sri Lanka for the International Cricket Council’s T20 World Cup.

Speaking ahead of their departure, captain Merissa Aguilleira was confident her side could handle the challenge of facing a tough England team in their home conditions.

“It’s good to be back in West Indies colours and it feels great to be leading the team on this tour in England and onto the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. We believe we can win the series in England and we will plan well and look to execute. We know conditions in England will be quite different from those we experience at home, but we are capable of adapting quickly and we will give England a strong challenge,” said the 26-year-old wicket-keeper.

“We will have training sessions and warm-ups (matches) before we play against England, so that should be ideal preparation for the bigger matches. We played against India and Sri Lanka at home earlier this year and did really well, so we hope to continue the good year with a win against England, which would be the right tonic as we head to Sri Lanka.”

The two teams will start with the first two games at the Durham ICG and Old Trafford, on September 8 and 10 respectively, scheduled directly before England men take on South Africa in T20 Internationals and broadcast live on Sky Sports. The other matches will be played at the County Ground, Northampton (September 13), County Ground, Hove (September 15) and at the Arundel Cricket Club in Sussex (September 16).

“The World T20 in Sri Lanka is the ‘big’ prize. It is what every team wants and we want it. We know that to win it we will have to be at our best and go out there and take it – no one is going to hand it to you on a platter – so we are mentally and physically up to the challenge. We have some of the best players in the world in our team and we are also have some younger players waiting for their opportunity to break onto the world stage,” Aguilleira said.

The West Indies will be without world-leading allrounder Stafanie Taylor for the first half of the series in England. The 21-year-old, who won the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year award last year, has remained in Jamaica to complete exams. She is expected to join the team after the second match.

Full Squad

Merissa Aguilleira (Captain/wicket-keeper)
Stafanie Taylor (Vice Captain)
Shemaine Campbelle
Britney Cooper
Shanel Daley
Deandra Dottin
Stacy-Ann King
Kycia Knight (Wicket-keeper)
Anisa Mohammed
Subrina Munroe
Juliana Nero
Shaquana Quintyne
Shakera Selman
Tremayne Smartt

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