It has been announced that the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 will be played at three venues in the Caribbean.

Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, and Saint Lucia were announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as the venues for the ICC Women’s World Twenty20, which will be staged from Nov. 9 – 24.

Host team, the West Indies, will defend its title with an eight wicket victory over Australia in Kolkata in 2016. Stafanie Taylor, who was named captain of the ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year 2017, won the player of the series award in India and is expected to once again lead the Windies in front of a passionate home crowd.

The three venues were selected by Cricket West Indies through a bidding process and have been ratified by the ICC. The preliminary round matches will be held at the Guyana National Stadium, and the Darren Sammy Stadium in Saint Lucia, while the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Barbuda will stage the two semi-finals and the final.

 “We are delighted to have Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana and Saintt Lucia on board as hosts for the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 later this year,” ICC Chief Executive, David Richardson, said. “Of course, Windies women are the reigning ICC World Twenty20 champions and I’ve no doubt they’ll be looking to defend their title on home soil. We are keen to build on the momentum from this summer’s Women’s World Cup and I’m sure the players can rely on a warm welcome from the legendary cricket fans in the West Indies and we’re all in for a great experience in the Caribbean.”

Windies captain, Stafanie Taylor said: “As captain of the defending champions, we are keen on defending our title and since we know we will be at home, we want to use this as an opportunity to welcome the world to the region for top-class competitive Women's cricket.”

The hosts will be joined by New Zealand, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and world champions England who have all achieved qualification. The remaining two spots will be taken by Bangladesh, Holland, Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Thailand, Uganda or United Arab Emirates, all of whom will compete in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier in the Netherlands from July 3 – 14.

The November event in the Caribbean will be the first stand-alone ICC Women’s World Twenty20 after the past six events were played alongside the men’s event.