One of the most anticipated women’s cricket tournaments in the Caribbean is set to get underway this weekend at Barbados’ iconic Kensington Oval, with the 2024 edition of the Limacol Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) bringing more action, more teams and more opportunities for emerging regional talent than ever before. Running from September 5 to 17, the expanded tournament will stage eight matches at the Bridgetown venue, headlined by the addition of an entirely new franchise: the Jamaica Empress.
For 21-year-old Saint Lucian all-rounder Zaida James, who already holds a spot in the senior West Indies national team, the launch of the new side marks a fresh starting point in her franchise cricket journey. James, who previously represented the Guyana Amazon Warriors and Trinbago Knight Riders in earlier editions of the WCPL, says she is eager to test her skills alongside the mix of international and Caribbean talent assembled by the debutant franchise.
“I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a new team, new franchise, really good people. I’m looking forward to working with these international players and even my local players because I think we have a pretty balanced team, and I’m really excited for that,” James said in the lead-up to the tournament. For the young cricketer, the expanded WCPL does more than just add another fixture to her annual calendar—it creates a global platform to raise her profile beyond international duty and highlight her abilities to a wider cricket audience. “It’s more opportunities. People get to see me more around the world, not just representing West Indies, but also representing franchises. And I get to showcase my talents as I go,” she explained.
James will not be short of star power to learn from during the tournament. She is set to share the Jamaica Empress dressing room with Australian cricket legend Meg Lanning, former West Indies women’s captain Stafanie Taylor, and fellow West Indies all-rounder Chinelle Henry—names that have decades of top-level cricket experience between them.
In the weeks leading up to the opening match, James has put in focused preparation at her home base in Saint Lucia, training at Mindoo Phillip Park alongside assistant batting coach Dalton Polius and the technical team at the Saint Lucia Cricket High Performance Centre. She credits the multi-disciplinary coaching setup at the facility for helping her refine every aspect of her game ahead of the competition. “It helps a lot because it’s not only one coach. He has several other guys to work with, and there’s also the West Indies Pathway coaches. So, that’s who I’ve been working with, and he’s also a part of the HPC. And just having him as a batting coach, and then there’s a spinning coach. So, I get to work with everyone. I get to be involved with all of them and even my fielding aspect,” James said.
James’ rise to the senior West Indies squad came on the back of a standout performance at the 2023 ICC Under-19 Women’s World Cup, where she struck consecutive half-centuries to announce her talent to the global cricket community. Now, as she works to secure a long-term place in the senior national setup, the Gros Islet native identifies mental resilience as her greatest competitive strength. “Sometimes it’s technical, but the strongest part is the mental part. And you know, once you have that mentality that you want to do this, you want to do that, I think once you have really strong mental health, you’ll be able to do a lot more things than you think. Skill-wise, I’m still working hard. I’ve never stopped after the World Cup, and I’m still working until, you know, I can’t do anything again,” she shared.
As the expanded WCPL prepares to throw its first ball, all eyes will be on James to see how she performs in her new colors. Beyond her own performances, her growing success in elite franchise and international cricket already serves as a powerful inspiration for young girls progressing through Saint Lucia’s grassroots cricket structure and the Windward Islands Under-19 Rising Stars development pipeline, paving the way for the next generation of Caribbean women’s cricket talent.