By Neto Baptiste
Coach and former West Indies fast bowler Winston Benjamin has accused the Leeward Islands Cricket Board (LICB) of “confusing” Antiguan fast bowler Shawnisha Hector and “running amok” with the player who lost her Cricket West Indies (CWI) development contract in June this year.
Benjamin, who coached the women’s cricket player leading into her debut for the senior West Indies women’s cricket team in November 2019, said some members of the sub-regional board are “confusing” the talented player.
“The powers that be are confusing Shawnisha. Shawnisha is a very passionate person and she is not going to say yea or nay, but she is just going to try and please everybody. There are persons within that organisation [Leeward Islands Cricket Board] running amok with Shawnisha and that is the problem,” he said.
“When Shawnisha made her debut for the West Indies [in 2019] about two weeks after that, that was the end of [my] and Shawnisha’s relationship in terms of me having anything to do with her cricket, and I have a problem with people who don’t understand their role. Shawnisha has been moved here and there and this person is going to deal with that and that person going to deal with this and it’s not helping Shawnisha,” he added.
Hector, during an interview with Observer last week, revealed she was no longer under contract with CWI after the regional body ended its arrangement with her earlier this year.
Benjamin, who played 21 Tests and 85 One Day Internationals for the West Indies, advised the young Hector to surround herself with individuals capable of managing and building on her already impressive ability.
“Go to somebody who understands what she needs to do to get her back to where she was [because] that young lady used to open the batting against Alzarri Joseph. Shawnisha is not an ordinary talent and a lot of people don’t understand Shawnisha, they don’t know her, they don’t know what makes her tick,” the former player said.
“I met Shawnisha when she was 11, almost going on 12 when she was at Clare Hall school and I worked with her for about six or seven years and she was coming along nicely. She is a multi-sport person who represented Antigua in football and basketball, so it’s not to say she doesn’t have the ability. It’s just that the people who are running her show right now don’t have the knowhow,” he added.
In July of 2019, Hector was amongst seven new players contracted by CWI after she had, that same year, led the Leeward Islands senior women’s team in the regional tournament.
Hector is the first Antiguan to play for the West Indies women’s team.
