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New Zealand's Suzie Bates believes it is about time the White Ferns took home an ICC trophy having reached both the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2009 and the ICC World Twenty20 2009 - losing both times to England.
"Obviously our plan this year is to win the tournament, it was great last year to make two finals but it was just as disappointing to lose to England twice but I think with this team we've got a core of a group that played in both those finals.
"We've played two finals and lost two finals and it's about time for us to learn from our mistakes. You can't buy experience like that and for us to have been through two defeats like that is something that has definitely made us stronger and hopefully we'll get one up this time round in the West Indies," she said.
The 22-year-old from Otago is excited about the tournament and believes her group isn't as easy as some may think.
"I guess it's an interesting pool for us facing the likes of Sri Lanka and Pakistan, we haven't played them recently obviously the India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan teams all have some handy spin bowlers and play the same sort of style which in turn can suit us as a team as it means we're playing at least three teams who will have a similar style of play - I expect it to be quite a challenging," commented the right-handed batter.
The New Zealand side will have captain Aimee Mason return to the helm for the tournament and Bates believes she will be key for New Zealand.
"We've got some really big hitters in the New Zealand side so it's just a matter of getting everyone in the top four to fire. It's about getting the likes of say Aimee Mason, who is always a huge threat in Twenty20 cricket and Sophie Devine has been in some really good form with the bat of late so those two can definitely be game winners for us.
"Then there's Nicola Browne with the new ball – she's a threat to any batsman so I definitely those are three names that will be huge for us in the upcoming campaign," she said.
The chance of travelling to the Caribbean is something that Bates, who has represented her country at basketball as well as cricket, is looking forward to immensely.
"I have never been over that side of the world, so that's another exciting thing and to be able to go to new places is great. The Caribbean is somewhere I think I wouldn't normally go which makes it more exciting. I'm not too sure what to expect but it's something I'm really looking forward to doing.
"I have been really fortunate over the last three or four years to be able to play both cricket and basketball but the last 18 months have been tough with me playing basketball in Brisbane but I guess with the chance of another World Cup, this time in the West Indies I couldn't resist it," said all-rounder.
Bates is equally as excited about the chance of playing alongside the men's tournament as the team did last year in ICC World Twenty20 2009 in England.
"I think it's massive for women's cricket that we get to play alongside the men's tournament. The success of the England tournament last year generated media coverage for the women's game and created more of a profile for women's cricket.
"It's definitely making it an exciting time for Twenty20 and women's cricket and we played a couple of games at home before the BLACKCAPS against Australia and the media coverage improved so much. Hopefully we can entertain the crowds over there and show that this is something that we should keep doing for some time to come. Any coverage is good coverage."
* Interview courtesy of the ICC
