The Argentine Cricket Association has announced the squad of fourteen players to take part in the second ICC Americas Women's Championship, to be held in Florida, USA, from 18 to 23 May. The first ever womens event was held in Toronto, Canada, in 2007, which was won by the host nation Canada. The 2009 tournament sees the inclusion of two new teams, USA, who are expected to be a solid competitive outfit, and Brazil, who's participation represents a milestone even if they are not expected to be anywhere near the same standard as the top teams.

Argentina show a squad that includes eleven players that took part in Canada two years, and one of the most encouraging aspects is the youthful nature of the squad, with the oldest player a mere 24 years old. The team will be coached by national men's captain Esteban MacDermott.

The full squad is:

• Catalina Greloni (captain)(Belgrano)
• Veronica Vasquez (vice-captain)(Lomas)
• Cecilia Birnie (St.Albans)
• Sofia Bruno (St.Albans)
• Delfina Canton (Belgrano)
• Belen Casas (Lomas)
• Clara Culley (Hurlingham)
• Lucia Culley (Hurlingham)
• Clara Echeverria (Belgrano)
• Mercedes Esperon (Hurlingham)
• Elena Garcia Favre (Rosario)
• Georgina Retamales (Lomas)
• Sofia Retamales (Lomas)
• Dirce Yuli (Rosario)

The three newcomers to the squad are Echeverria, Esperon and Garcia Favre. Since their last outing in this event, competition has perhaps been a little limited, but the Argentina national players have managed series against Brazil twice, and against a visiting Trinidad & Tobago youth team. Four of the players - Greloni, Vasquez, Birnie and Canton - also attended an ICC Americas academy in Trinidad & Tobago last year.

Catalina Greloni, who is also the Womens Development Officer for the ACA, was under no illusions about the objectives of the team: "We know we are not realistically the same standard as Bermuda or Canada, but we are trying to improve all the time. We have a young team, and hopefully we have time to keep improving and who knows, maybe in a few years time we will be challenging the stronger teams in the region. Individually a lot of the players are much better now than two years ago, but maybe we haven't played enough matches, and that is something that is important to us as we try and become better as a team as well."

Coach Esteban MacDermott echoed similar sentiments: "Our main objective is to learn and keep improving, and obviously one way of doing that is by being as competitive as possible on the field and using the opportunity of playing against quality opposition. We are still in a process of developing the womens game in Argentina, and naturally if the national team performs well, and to our own expectations, that will be a positive thing for all the players involved as well as everyone back home."

The ICC Americas Women's Championship takes place in Florida, USA, from 18 to 23 May, 2009.