Jamaican bowler Celina Whyte is one of 14 female players from across the region that were awarded one-year contracts by governing body Cricket West Indies.

The first-time initiative is a significant step forward in CWI’s strategic commitment to Elite and High Performance cricket and signals a continued investment in the growth of the women’s game in the Caribbean.

The new deals follow the Maroon Warriors’ impressive run to the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, where they lost to New Zealand.

The expansion brings the total of contracted regional players to 104 for the year and 164 in total including Senior and Academy players.

The full list of contracted players are:

* Melicia Clarke and Kimberley Anthony (Leeward Islands)

* Earnisha Fontaine, Abini St. Jean and Nerissa Crafton (Windward Islands)

* Shanika Bruce and Alisa Scantlebury (Barbados)

* Shenetta Grimmond, Plaffiana Millington and Mandy Mangru (Guyana)

* Celina Whyte (Jamaica)

* Shalini Samaroo, KD Jazz Mitchell and Reniece Boyce (Trinidad and Tobago)

Cricket West Indies, in the meantime, also renewed the annual contracts of 90 male players across six territories, bringing the total number of regional players under contract to 164 senior and academy cricketers.

Heading the group of 15 Jamaicans are Jermaine Blackwood, Jeavor Royal and Marquino Mindley.

Completing the list are Andre Bailey, Brad Barnes, Carlos Brown, Gordon Bryan, John Campbell, Jordan Johnson (U25*), Abhijai Mansingh, Kirk McKenzie (U25*), Odain Orland McCatty, Romaine Morris, Peat Salmon and Ojay Shields

The contracts reinforce CWI’s goal of supporting players as they progress along the pathway to elite performance, creating a sustainable pipeline of talent that can perform on the global stage.