The 57-year-old Jamaican is a cricketing icon across the Caribbean as the leading Test wicket taker in West Indies history, having claimed 519 scalps in 132 matches.

That places him sixth on the all-time list, while he also took 227 wickets in one-day internationals.

Walsh is a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Hall of Fame and has been appointed to guide the women's side until at least the end of 2022.

This will include the Women's Cricket World Cup in 2022 in New Zealand, an event which was pushed back a year due to the COVID-19 crisis.

In the same year the Women's T20 World Cup is due to be played in South Africa.

"This is indeed an honour to be named as the new head coach," Walsh, who has served as assistant coach of the Bangladesh men's team, said.

"It's an exciting challenge and I've always wanted to give back in any way I can and help with the development of the game in the West Indies. 

"The experience I have, my knowledge of the game, and my overall organisational skills will be key aspects as we try to develop a winning team culture.

"I worked with the team at the Women's T20 World Cup earlier this year in Australia and in the series against India in the Caribbean last year, so I have a very good understanding of what is required. 

"The ability and the talent are there, we have some fantastic players in the West Indies, and it will be my duty and focus to help the women to develop their talents and achieve the goals we are going to be setting together."

Walsh replaces Jamaican Andre Coley who presided over the recent T20 series in England.

He has previously held several important Cricket West Indies (CWI) roles.

"I am delighted to have Courtney leading our international women's programme having successfully come through CWI's recruitment process," said CWI director of cricket Jimmy Adams.

"He will be overseeing the programme initially until the end of the next two ICC Women's World Cups in 2022 and he will be pivotal in working with CWI's high performance team to move our whole women's programme forward, as part of our wider strategic plan which has women's cricket as a key priority." 

The biggest achievement of West Indies women is winning the T20 World Cup in 2016.