Quintyne alleges being left to fend for herself after being injured on West Indies duty

About three years after an injury brought an end to her promising international career, former Barbados and West Indies bowling all-rounder Shaquana Quintyne is seeking justice in the law court.

Quintyne has filed a lawsuit against Cricket West Indies (CWI) following an incident at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua in 2017. The talented 24-year-old was part of a West Indies Women’s training camp preparing for the 2017 International Cricket Council’s 50-over World Cup that ran from June 24 to July 23 in England.  The outstanding product of the then Garrison Secondary School related diving for a ball during net practice and injuring her right knee. That marked the start of a painful slide in the then 21-year-old’s career.

The young cricketer disappeared from public view but in an interview this evening with Barbados TODAY, Quintyne broke her silence on the matter and disclosed her displeasure with the treatment she has received from the governing body of cricket in the region. She stressed that despite being injured while in the service of West Indies cricket, she had been abandoned by CWI.

“I got injured when I dive to stop a ball while fielding at extra-cover during a practice session in Antigua. As a result, I have had operations performed on my right knee in Barbados, Jamaica and Canada because the cruciate ligaments in my knee were torn. I now suffer from osteoarthritis in my knee,” Quintyne said.

Quintyne explained that she was a contracted player with CWI at the time she was injured but lost her contract a couple months following the incident. At that stage, Quintyne who made her debut for the West Indies at the tender age of 15 had played 40 One-Day Internationals and 45 Twenty20 matches for the regional team after making her International debut in 2011.

Before her injury Quintyne had scored 482 runs and taken 35 wickets in her 40 ODIs, while in the shortest format of the game she had compiled 182 runs and dismissed 39 batters. Since being injured the soft-spoken cricketer has undergone a litany of woes. However, Quintyne made it clear she was not going into all of the details surrounding the way she was treated by CWI after her injury due to the pending lawsuit. Suffice to say, she explained, she was dissatisfied with the way she was treated by CWI

The former dashing cricketer revealed her injury had left her in excruciating pain and she has been footing the bill for her medical problems that have proven extremely costly.

“I have to go to physical therapy daily. Until recently I was wearing a brace and I no longer have cartilage in my knee. I have been paying my medical bills myself which is a huge financial burden, therefore I have to find some kind of resolution to the matter in the courts,” she said.

Quintyne who played her last International match against India at the Vijayawada Stadium in November 2016, said she still has a profound love for the game but was making preparations for life after cricket.

“My love for sports and cricket will never die. I am hoping to be a personal trainer at some point in my life. In that way I will still be associated with sports and will be making a contribution to persons who are playing some form of sports or those who are just interested in pursing a healthy lifestyle,” she explained.

When contacted Director of Cricket with the Barbados Cricket Association, Stephen Leslie, said at the time of Quintyne’s incident he had just joined the BCA board. He referred queries directly to CWI but up to publication time no contact had been made with senior management of the governing body.

Quintyne’s case is the first lawsuit brought by a member of the West Indies Women’s team against CWI, which over the last few years has seen actions filed against it by the likes of former internationals Desmond Haynes, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Phil Simmons, Vasbert Drakes and Courtney Browne.