WEST INDIES Women Assistant Coach Corey Collymore says players are acclimatising to the weather and the unusual biosecure arrangements put in place for their historic cricket tour of England.

The visiting contingent, comprising 18 players, arrived in the United Kingdom (UK) over two weeks ago. West Indies will be based in Derby for the entirety of the tour as per regulations aimed at reducing exposure to the novel coronavirus.

“I think they’ve adapted quite well [to the biosecure bubble] and they are enjoying each other’s company — and that’s for players and [coaching] staff,” Collymore said recently during a virtual media interaction.

“It’s fairly hard to predict the weather, especially in the UK, where they say you get four seasons in one day. But thus far we’ve only had one or two chilly days and the weather has been quite good, so the ladies are adapting to it quite nicely,” added the former West Indies swing bowler.

The Caribbean women and their English counterparts are slated to contest five Twenty20 (T20) matches, all to be hosted at Derbyshire’s Incora County Ground. The first encounter is set for Monday, with the rest to follow on September 23, 26, 28 and 30.

In July, the West Indies men’s team lost 1-2 to hosts England in a three-Test series played within similar biosecure guidelines.

The upcoming series is to be the first bilateral fixture for 2016 world T20 women’s champions West Indies since facing India in the Caribbean last November. And it will be the first staging of international women’s cricket since the coronavirus pandemic derailed most competitive sports in March.

“They are gelling well together… the ladies have known each other for a long time and that’s a plus. Outside of that it’s still up to us to get them in the right frame of mind to be ready for competition. But ultimately, players need to execute and show what they have.

“We still have to manage the players’ workloads with [their] return to training and competition, so it’s still a work in progress,” said Collymore, assistant to Windies Women interim Head Coach Andre Coley.

The last time the teams met was back in March when England won a group-stage match at the T20 World Cup in Australia. England went on to the semi-finals, while West Indies failed to advance from the group stage.

England, the 2009 T20 champions and three-time former finalists, are a powerful force, especially in home conditions, which leaves them carrying the favourites tag entering the series.

Collymore refused to be drawn into a prediction, instead noting the developmental aspect of the tour.

“England are a top-class team, but West Indies are also [former] world champions. We are also a new staff, so we are still trying to get to know each other quite well.

“Predicting a series win is quite difficult. Yes, we always want to win, but for me, I think it’s more around development. We have some younger players with some senior players, so I think we’ll look to develop a team for the future.

“I think fielding will play a very big part in the UK — cold weather and some of them [players] coming for the first time and it’s also coming on to winter time,” he told journalists.

Squad — Stafanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin, Shemaine Campbelle, Afy Fletcher, Hayley Matthews, Shamilia Connell, Britney Cooper, Chedean Nation, Natasha McLean, Chinelle Henry, Aaliyah Alleyne, LeeAnn Kirby, Sheneta Grimmond, Karishma Ramharack, Shabika Gajnabi, Cherry-Ann Fraser, Kaysia Schultz.