England Shocked by West Indies in WT20 World Cup Upset
The West Indies’ comprehensive six-wicket win against England was Women’s Cricket’s biggest upset of the year and saw one of the favourites dumped out of the WT20 World Cup in the UAE. The final group game served as a de facto quarter-final, with England’s first innings score of 141 made to look diminutive by powerful West Indian hitting.
England, a major powerhouse on and off the pitch, were perfect across the last home summer, accumulating 13 wins from 13 completed games. Typically, bilateral series are where they play their best cricket, too often unable to manage the intense scrutiny of knockout matches. Their group stage exit in this year’s edition follows semi-final heartbreak at the last WT20 World Cup, the 2022 Commonwealth Games, as well as a crushing 50-over World Cup final loss against Australia in 2022.
England dropping five catches against the West Indies was indicative of a team feeling the pressure, conscious of their recent past. Windies opener Qiana Joseph, promoted to the top of the order despite a batting average of 14, took advantage of England’s mediocrity and rose to the most significant occasion of her sporting career. The Saint Lucian smeared England’s attack to all corners on the way to a career-best 52. In conjunction with Deandra Dottin, the team’s talisman, they exhibited the brute force that exists across the Caribbean, to which England had no answer.
The West Indies’ achievement is even more impressive when considering the economic disparity between the two teams. England will have eight entirely professional regional women’s teams by 2025, whilst the West Indies can only afford a skeletal system that supports a small number of centrally contracted players.
Grenadian Leg spinner Afy Fletcher, who stung England through the middle overs and claimed the best figures of the match (3/21), is isolated from the sparse coaching in the Caribbean for most of the year. Rather than spending her days in a high-performance centre, she predominantly trains independently with her partner, a local club cricketer.
In contrast, England’s domestic pathway has been transformed since the pandemic. Only Australia, who have dominated women’s cricket for a decade, has similar opportunities and resources available to female cricketers.
England enjoy comparisons to the all-conquering Australian Women’s side, but in the recent past, they haven’t won the trophies to justify them. Failure to qualify from the group stages was made all the more painful when Australia went on to be knocked out by South Africa in the semi-finals; England have missed a golden opportunity to make up ground on the old enemy. Fortunately, 2025 is another World Cup year, and they’ll be given every opportunity to banish their tournament demons.
Words by Markus Conneely
