Walsh excited to welcome naturally talented Mangru in Windies Women’s setup

– says Campbelle has grown from strength to strength
By Brandon Corlette

Head Coach of the West Indies Women’s team, Courtney Walsh, is excited to welcome Guyana’s Mandy Mangru into the West Indies Women’s setup. Mangru, an opening batter who also bowls off-spin, is one of six Guyanese who would be involved in the West Indies Women’s high-performance camp in Antigua, which commences on May 2.

Responding to a question from this publication in a virtual press conference on Friday, Walsh said: “I have seen some video clips of her. I was telling someone that, based on what I have seen, I am really excited to be bringing her into the camp. I see some natural talent there, so the camp exposure should be very good. If she is good enough to get into the setup, I am not going to stop her.” Walsh has also said that Guyana’s Shemaine Campbelle has grown from strength to strength, and her mindset is in a better place.

“Given the last camp, (when) she did everything that we required, you can see the improvement. Her mindset is in a better place, and it was so good to see her approach the camp and taking on responsibility. She has grown from strength to strength. We gave her some leadership roles in the camp, and she took them with both hands. She is really a valuable member of the team, and very professional in what she does,” Walsh said about Campbelle.

Walsh explained that the two main aims of this camp are to get the West Indies Women to be more consistent, and to have game awareness.
“The purpose of this camp is to work on consistency and game awareness. The last camp was more observational, and we got a pretty good idea where the ladies are at. There are 30 players coming in, and a few of them are coming in nursing injuries, so the coaching staff and medical team are ready to work with all of them,” he said.

“We are going to use this camp to see as much of the players as possible. I am most excited to see the younger ones coming into the camp, because we’re trying to build the pool of players available. So, I think it’ll be a great opportunity for these youngsters and the other new players to grasp the chance before them,” Walsh added. Batting has been an issue for the West Indies Women. In the quest to resolve this, Walsh said, it would receive intense focus in the camp. He noted that four to five batters must be consistent, rather than the trio of Hayley Matthews, Deandra Dottin and Stafanie Taylor.

FULL SQUAD SELECTED: Aaliyah Alleyne, Reniece Boyce, Shanika Bruce, Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Britney Cooper, Deandra Dottin, Cherry-Ann Fraser, Shabika Gajnabi, Jannillea Glasgow, Sheneta Grimmond, Shawnisha Hector, Chinelle Henry, Caneisha Isaac, Zaida James, Japhina Joseph, Qiana Joseph, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Mandy Mangru, Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed, Chedean Nation, Karishma Ramharack, Kaysia Schultz, Shakera Selman, Steffi Soogrim, Stafanie Taylor, Rachel Vincent and Rashada Williams. (GTimes)