WITH just over 150 days to the start of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Championship in the West Indies, Cricket West Indies officially launched its Women’s Patron Programme in Kingston yesterday.

The five women – Yaneek Page, Dahlia Harris, Sandra Glasgow, Pat Garel and Ann-Marie Vaz have “pledged their support” for the upcoming stand-alone event. Director of Sales, Jamaica Pegasus, Prudence Simpson, was a special guest.

Tournament Director, Jennifer Nero, offered the charge to the five women on their roles with regard to supporting the November 9-24 event to be held in Guyana, St Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda.

She has sought the support of the women to support the game of cricket by encouraging other young women to play, encourage fans to attend the matches and build on a programme that will become a legacy for women in Cricket and sport in the wider Caribbean.

Harris, a noted Jamaican playwright, said the meeting highlighted how the ICC Women’s World Cup could be a glorious opportunity for the region.

“For me the meeting underscored the immense potential of the women’s version of the game not just for the West Indies but globally, and the fact that it will be coming to the West Indies is just a great opportunity for the region to showcase itself and for us as a region to also celebrate all that our women have been doing and will continue to do,” Harris said.

“Our own Stafanie Taylor is a major part of our Windies Women’s success and the meeting was about our commitment to promote the event, to promote the women and to garner support, so I am encouraging every single man, woman, boy, girl. We talk about glory days of West Indies cricket, the women are here with the glory and we are here to support them.”

Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dave Cameron, in his brief remarks, thanked the women for their support and “urged them to support the wider programme by continuing to support women in sport and build on what exists for sustainability.”

CWI will take the programme around the region and will engage women in the six territories across the region. The hope is to have at least 30 women from all backgrounds and industries.

The full list should be ready by the end of summer with at least two months prior to the start of the Championship.

The women will attend a few of the matches in the Windies Women Championship now on and ends on June 24. Jamaica and Barbados have so far won two games, TT one and the other teams have not yet scored a point. (SportsMax)