LONDON, England – West Indies Women will be vying for a winner’s cheque of US$660,000 when they open their campaign in the ICC Women’s World Cup which bowls off Saturday.
The top prize is part of an overall tournament bounty of $2 million which, according to the International Cricket Council (ICC), is 10 times the amount on offer at the last World Cup in India four years ago.
The losing finalists will walk away with a handy $330,000, with the losing semi-finalists each pocketing $165,000.
Teams bowing out at the group stage will still collect $30,000 each with each preliminary round win rewarded with $20,000.
West Indies Women enter the June 24 to July 23 tournament as one of the favourites following their capture of last year’s Twenty20 World Cup in India.
They have also excelled in the 50-overs format, reaching the final of the 2013 World Cup and also finishing fourth in the ICC Championship last year to be one of four teams to earn automatic qualification for the pending tournament.
The Caribbean side has had a rough last three weeks, however, losing all their unofficial warm-up games.
They play their first official ICC warm-up against Pakistan in Leicester today before taking on South Africa in their final warm-up in Oakham.
West Indies open their preliminary campaign with a rematch of the 2013 final against reigning champions Australia in Taunton. (Jamaica Observer)