West Indies women pleased with central retainers

West Indies women captain, Merissa Aguilleira, and leading batsman Stafanie Taylor have welcomed the West Indies Cricket Board's (WICB) decision to offer central retainer contracts to six players in the their side.

"When I first heard the WICB was offering retainers to members of our team I said to the others 'wow, this is great news for us'," said Taylor, who has been in top form in the ongoing ICC Women's Cricket Challenge in South Africa. "I am truly very happy not just for myself but for the other members of my team. We are all playing our hearts out for West Indies cricket and we are truly delighted that the WICB is taking notice and looking out for us. "Our coach always urges us to play with heart and one day we will get the recognition. With the contracts, we can now concentrate fully on our cricket and we know we will have income to sustain ourselves."

Taylor, 19, is one of the rising stars in the women's game, and on Wednesday became the youngest woman to reach 1000 ODI runs, when she made 72 against Ireland. Her captain Aguilleira led the side to the semi-finals in the 2010 World Twenty20 and West Indies have also made steady improvement and moved up the ODI rankings.

"This news could not have come at a better time," Aguilleira said. "This is a good incentive for the girls to continue the hard work we have been putting in over the last few years since we started to make strides up the international ladder. I have been speaking to the girls and they are over the moon to hear we will be offered retainer contracts. We will continue to work hard to improve and get better at doing what we love."