West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has encouraged her team to play a fearless brand of cricket at the upcoming ICC T20 Women’s World Cup.
Speaking during the captains’ media briefing ahead of the start of the tournament, Matthews, a member of the West Indies’ 2016 title winning side, said the squad contained a well-balanced mix of players.
“I think what’s been really good for us is that the young players that we do have around, they’ve been very keen to learn and to grow and I think with players in the dressing room like Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin, it certainly helps those players to be able to come into competitions like this and have players to feed off of and learn from their experiences in the World Cup.
“So I think for us it’s just gonna be about bringing it all together at the right time and hopefully getting the job done on the day,” Matthews said.
West Indies lost their opening warm up game against India by 26 runs and will face Australia on Wednesday in their final dress rehearsal ahead of the main event.
The regional side will officially open its campaign against New Zealand on June 13, with Matthews very familiar with a number of the Kiwi players, after playing with and against them during the various franchise leagues.
“We obviously go out there every time to try to play our best and try to win, and New Zealand, they’re always a great competition. They’ve obviously got a lot of stars as well who can take the game away from you,” Matthews noted.
“So, we’re gonna have to make a big effort to keep the likes of Melie (Kerr) and I guess Sophie (Devine) and some of the others out of the game as much as we possibly can. Also I think it’s just focusing on executing as a team and knowing that at our best, we can probably beat anyone.”
New Zealand are the defending champions having beaten South Africa in the final in 2024 and Matthews said the game had evolved since West Indies’ title clinching run a decade ago.
“I think the game has definitely grown a lot since then. But look, as a group, we’ve got a lot of new players in, a lot of young players in as well, and it’s gonna take a fearless brand of cricket I think, when you look at the women’s game nowadays.
“I certainly feel like a lot of records are going to be broken during this tournament and yeah, you’re gonna have to play a very fearless brand to be able to compete here,” Matthews said.
Matthews was asked about the expected impact of veteran all rounder Deandra Dottin, who has hit the most sixes in World Cup history.
She described her compatriot as a great player to have within the setup.
“She’s someone that can definitely make an impact from any part of the game with the bat, the ball, but also in the field. We see how electric she can be at times,” Matthews added.
“So, yeah, she’s certainly someone that we’re very glad is in our unit, and we know that a Deandra Dottin who’s striking it well can be a really dangerous player for anyone.”
In addition to New Zealand, West Indies are grouped alongside Ireland, Scotland, Sri Lanka and England, the latter of whom they will play on June 24 at Lord’s.
“I think playing at Lord’s on any day is pretty special,” said Matthews. “In a World Cup, even more so against the home team. I think it’s gonna be obviously a really monumental occasion, so we’re looking forward to that game a lot. We will probably be a bit less pressured than England, so, yeah, I think we just wanna go there and have a good time and enjoy ourselves.”
(KH)
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