ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) – West Indies Women’s tour of South Africa has been revised and will now consist of five matches, including a warm-up contest and four One-Day Internationals (ODIs), as they finalise preparations for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced on Wednesday.

It added that all matches will be played in a bio-secure environment at the historic Imperial Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, a venue which CWI said is close to the teams’ hotel, which has been secured for exclusive use due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

West Indies Women were previously scheduled to play three T20 Internationals and five ODIs against South African Women from January 15 to February 6.

But in the revised schedule, the team will play a warm-up match against a South Africa XI on January 25, followed by four ODIs — two day matches and two day/night matches under lights — against South Africa Women from January 28 to February 6.

“There has been a lot of hard work and collaboration with our friends at Cricket South Africa regarding this tour and we are very pleased that we have been able to confirm this rescheduled ODI Series, allowing us to play vital high-level international competition and complete preparations ahead of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup,” said CWI CEO Johnny Grave.

“We are extremely grateful to both CSA’s and CWI’s operational and medical teams for their efforts in confirming the schedule and we look forward to an exciting ODI series.’’

West Indies Women’s head coach Courtney Walsh added that the tour will give the team a chance to get some cricket in before the World Cup, especially since they played less cricket than anticipated following the cancellation of the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe.

“This tour will show us exactly what we need to fine-tune before departing for New Zealand, so that when we get there we can hit the ground running and give a proper showing of ourselves on the world stage,” Walsh added.

The ODI Series forms a crucial part of the West Indies Women’s preparation for ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup to be played in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3, 2022.