Mission accomplished for West Indies

The West Indies women returned from their tour of India and Pakistan with their coach believing that all the major objectives had been accomplished. During the seven-week trip they lost to India but defeated Pakistan.

"The tour has been very good for us and very good for our preparation for the World Cup," Ann Browne-John, the coach, told CMC Sport. "I thought that we were way behind India and when I think about the fact that India is now ranked third in the world, that means we are also way behind Australia and New Zealand, so we have some catching up to do."

But despite being thrashed 0-5 by India in the one-day series, West Indies beat Pakistan 5-2. The one Test - against Pakistan in Karachi - was drawn when West Indies scored 440 after being made to follow on.

"That was the purpose of the tour," Browne-John added. "To gain international experience, to play against an experienced team like India and to hope that it will help us and I think we have been able to achieve that."

In the Test, Nadine George from St Lucia became the first woman to score a hundred for West Indies when she hit 118.