Windies’ Chinelle Henry recounts traumatic episode

Cricket has always been the first love for Jamaican all-rounder Chinelle Henry who, to this day, plays the game with a constant beaming smile, whether it be for her country or the regional side.

Last July, cricket, for one instance, became secondary for the 26-year-old, who, along with teammate Chedean Nation, fainted almost 10 minutes apart from each other while fielding in the second Twenty20 (T20) International against Pakistan at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.

It was a scary moment reminiscent of the one that happened in the European Championship match last summer when Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed and was subsequently hospitalised.

Henry and Nation were also taken to hospital, and now they have recovered and are ready to return to action.

For Henry, that memory is one she would want to forget but is thankful that six months on, she is still having the verve and vigour to continue her budding career.

"It feels really good to be back after what happened to me last year in the Pakistan series," Henry told STAR Sports. "It was scary, but I'm glad I was able to fight through it and regain full fitness and now I'm back playing again as nothing happened."

Henry said the incident had family members worried but she was able to communicate with them and let them know she would be fine.

With 20 one-day internationals (ODI) and 32 T20 internationals under her belt, the right-arm medium pacer and the right-hand batter is keen on making 2022 a year of progression with the West Indies Women's team.

Henry and 22 other ladies are now in Barbados for a fitness and medical camp ahead of the bilateral series away to South Africa later this month, and the right-hander is hoping that she will be among the final 18 to make the trip.

"The last time South Africa came to the Caribbean and I played against them, it wasn't my best tour, to be honest," she said. "I have been going over the most recent games we've played to see my performance and learn exactly what it is I have to do to make my performances better. So, to break that down, heading into this South Africa series, once I'm selected, I'm looking to improve on my all-around performance from the last time we played against them."

Henry says that improvement is in her batting, where she now averages 9.53 in ODIs and 10.23 in T20s.

"I want to improve on all aspects of my game (fitness, mental, strike rate, economy rate), but specifically, I want to become consistent and grounded in my batting," she said. "The only way that can happen is if I take up the responsibility and commit to doing the work, even when there's no cricket going on, because the hardest part is to get up and train when there's no cricket. I know this because it has happened to me, especially since COVID came along."