Shamilia Connell

Tall, dangerously quick, and not scared to bowl bouncers, Shamilia Connell is often compared to Joel Garner. She is one of the quickest female cricketers present in today’s day and age. Just like any other West Indies cricketer, Connell is a crowd puller and known for her deadly pace and accurate bowling. 

As a teenager, Connell was more inclined towards track and field, until her high-school coach offered the youngster to play cricket and fortunately she agreed. Hailing from Barbados, the West Indies coach saw the pacer bowling on a beach and picked Connell from there. 

The Barbadian debuted for West Indies in September 2014 during a T20I against New Zealand. A couple of months later, the pacer got the opportunity to play the 50-over format as well. She made her ODI debut against Australia Down Under. 

The pacer has an unpleasing stat to her name as she took 7 ODIs and 5 T20Is to grab her maiden international wicket. It was in 2015 when she scalped her first wicket against Pakistan in a 50-over game and got her first T20I wicket on the same tour. 

A year later, Connell was donning the West Indies colours proudly in India when her side lifted the World T20 title in Kolkata. The pacer contributed well and bowled some quality economic spells during the tournament. The speedster was also part of the West Indies squad during the 2017 World Cup and also played the 2018 and 2020’s 20-over World Cups. 

Connell is a raw fast bowler who could tear any opposition away with her brutal pace but the only drawback in the pacer’s bowling has been the inability to take wickets. If she adds the wicket-taking quality in her arsenal then Connell can become an unbreakable force for West Indies Cricket. 

(As of May 2021)