West Indian women “relieved” to fly home after 11 days of quarantine in Oman

The West Indies women have been cleared to fly home on Friday after an 11-day quarantine in Oman. The contingent was stranded in Oman since the ICC called off the women's World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe on November 27 after travel restrictions were imposed on large parts of southern Africa following the detection of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.

"We are excited to announce that the West Indies Women roster will soon be returning home," said CWI CEO Johnny Grave.

“We would like to thank you for your patience and understanding while we have worked with our colleagues from ICC and Oman Cricket to facilitate your return as soon as possible. We would like to express our appreciation to the ICC, Oman Cricket and our operating team, who have worked tirelessly to make everyone feel comfortable and safe. "

Head coach Courtney Walsh said the team was "relieved" to go home and be with their families before Christmas and that the transition period in Oman had "mentally strained" the entire team for both the players and management .

"As a management group, we've tried to make sure the players stay in a positive mood," Walsh said in a statement. "Our strength and conditioning coach created a fitness challenge for all of us for the duration of the quarantine period as it distracted us from what was happening. I have to thank our team manager, the ICC and Oman Cricket, for all of their logistical work to make sure that we'll be on our way home as soon as possible. "

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The squad was flown to Oman via an ICC private charter with a short stopover in Namibia together with eight other international squads. Oman was used as a staging area for the West Indies contingent while they waited for an available route home.

As the ODI World Cup is due to take place next March and April, the qualification cannot take place at a later date and the ICC announced that the three remaining places will be decided according to the ranking list. After the qualifying event ended, Bangladesh, the West Indies and Pakistan secured their places. Hosts New Zealand, Australia, England, South Africa and India have already qualified for the marquee.