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Former West Indies Women's captain and ICC Women's T20 World Cup winner Merissa Aguilleira recently took part in further Coach Development initiatives aimed at supporting her journey towards becoming a professional coach.
Aguillera who is also the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) technical director (TD) for women's cricket, participated in the face-to-face component of the CWI Representative Coaching Programme (Level 2) which was held at the National Cricket Centre in Couva, Trinidad on June 13 and 14. Aguilleira has been involved in recent cricket series, including the Trinidad and Tobago Women's tour of Barbados in May and the Cricket West Indies Women's Tournaments (CG United Super50 and T20 Blaze) in Guyana. She is also playing a major role in the CWI Women's Under-19 T20 event as Tournament Director. She is recognized among the most successful women's cricketers in West Indies and she explained why she has taken up this coaching journey. "I always liked the idea of coaching. I remember, I spoke to someone recently when I was trying to get involved in match refereeing. And while I had another discussion with the person I remember seeing him looking at me, and he was like, 'you're supposed to be a coach'. I really started to think deep within myself that this is something I really need to get myself involved in," Aguilleira said in an official statement. "I'm passionate about cricket, I have a lot of knowledge about the game. I think it would be very selfish of me not to pass it on to the next generation. I have a vision of where I want to see West Indies cricket go, so it's really important that we have persons who are passionate about the game and willing to take up that mantle of really caring about women's cricket and pushing it forward, to the rightful position that it's supposed to be ... it has to be in with our dedication and our commitment," she added. Aguilleira started her international career in 2008 and finished in 2018 when she played 112 ODIs and 95 T20Is. She was a member of the 2016 T20 World Cup-winning team in the memorable final against Australia at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in 2016, the biggest success in West Indies Women's history. A classy right-handed batter and wicket-keeper, she captained the West Indies to the ICC Women's World Cup final against Australia in 2013 in India and to three ICC Women's T20 World Cup semi-finals in 2010 in Saint Lucia, 2012 in Colombo, Sri Lanka and 2014 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (ANI)
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