The Nation News, Nov. 1: The West Indies Women’s Cricket Team will be hoping to continue their winning record on the current tour to Sri Lanka which starts today and continues through November 13.

Of their last nine One-Day Internationals (ODIs), the West Indies women have won six, and lost one. Another match was abandoned and one ended in a no-result. They will play five ODIs against Sri Lanka.

Former Barbados and West Indies opening batsman Sherwin Campbell is head coach of the team and the SATURDAY SUN caught up with him on Thursday evening prior to their departure at the Grantley Adams International Airport.

He said there were several objectives to the tour.

"I am hoping the girls gain more experience. It is quite a young side. We had one tour to Holland and Ireland and the girls did well. We moved on to England and we lost one game.

"Hopefully, this is another learning curve towards making a good West Indies side. I want them to learn, but I want them to win as well. I want them to improve on the tour. I am looking for some good performances from the girls," Campbell said.

Eleven players from that European tour are in this present side and Campbell said they were trying to find the right combination before the 2009 International Cricket Council’s Women’s World Cup in Australia from March 7 to 22. The West Indies are in Pool A with the hosts, South Africa and New Zealand.

The team spent four days prior to departure in a mini-camp at Kensington Oval, Banks and Wanderers.

"I thought the training camp went pretty well. We only had four days to prepare for this tour, but I think we got in most of the things that we wanted to achieve, although we had a bit of rain in between, but everything went pretty well," the coach said.

"The first day we did some fielding. The other three days we did some net practice, batting and bowling and a bit of fielding as well, and we had a bit of physical work in between. We covered most of the areas.

"Although I wanted a bit more time, I am quite satisfied with the four days we had before this trip."

There were no practice matches to assess the readiness of the team, but Campbell hopes the two days set aside for training and the warm-up match against the winners of the Sri Lankan Division One League will be enough to get them acclimatised and see a bit of the opposition.

The team were scheduled to go to Pakistan before going to Sri Lanka, but that was cancelled when the safety of the players could not be guaranteed.

"It is a tour that we would’ve liked to go ahead, but we missed it and we have to move on to the next stage in Sri Lanka.

"I don’t know what is going to happen after Sri Lanka before the World Cup but we have to move ahead and see what is next for us," Campbell said.

He stressed that the continuity in the side as well as its youth augured well, as the players go through the process of learning each other’s personalities on and off the field, building team spirit and helping each other learn as they continue to play the game.

Sri Lanka’s last tour was back in May when they lost three of five matches against India and Pakistan.

They have recalled the Fernando sisters, Rose and Hiruka, who have 73 ODIs between them but hadn’t played for the national side since 2004 and 2005, respectively.

Nadine George (captain), Kirbyina Alexander (vice-captain), Merissa Aguilleira, Phernel Charles, Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Erva Giddings, Stacy Ann King, Anisa Mohammed, Juliana Nero, Danielle Small, Charlene Taitt, Stafanie Taylor, Sherwin Campbell (head coach), Carol Whilby-Maxwell (manager).

Sri Lanka