West Indies is hoping to put up a good fight against England, says pacer Shamilia Connell

West Indies cricketer Shamilia Connell feels they will be able to put up a good fight in the upcoming T20I series against England even though the preparations have been far from ideal back in the Caribbean.



“I guess you want to see a level playing field, but I guess everybody have been doing their the individual work. Not quite all the girls have been getting their full run back in the Caribbean,” Connell told reporters during a video press conference in Derby on Sunday (September 13).



“But by now we have been here in England for a couple of weeks, I mean, seeing the girls fine tune and stuff like that. So, I guess we may be able to put up a good fight.”



West Indies last played international cricket in March during the T20 World Cup in Australia when they lost their match against England. 28-year-old Connell hopes the hard work they have put in ahead of the series will help them when they face England again.



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“(It was) a very disappointing World Cup game against England. We haven’t had a successful series against them over the past few years,” she said. “We will have to wait and see. But we are confident; we have put in the work and the girls have been working hard and I believe that we would give them a good fight in the series,” she said.



“I believe that it's a good opportunity to go out there and at least try to do our best and be victorious because we would like to give the Caribbean a fighting spirit getting behind us and we haven’t had that much chance to do that. We have some new faces as well and that brings the kind of mixing team stuff like that, we have some good experienced players here and they believe that they could really get the job done.”



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Connell, who has played 41 T20Is for West Indies so far, wants to improve her personal record against England without putting any pressure on herself and hopes to draw inspiration from her opening bowling partner, Shakera Selman.



“I haven't had a better series, especially against England, so I guess this is my chance to actually make my mark and no added pressure,” Connell added, urging the fans back home to rally behind the team.



“It’s (partnership with Selman) been very good. Shakera has a lot of experience in the game. She takes in a lot, so, you know, we have a lot of discussion about stuff like that and she pushes me and she’s a good role model.”