TAROUBA, Trinidad – WINDIES opener, Hayley Matthews, has a good feeling about the upcoming, first stand-alone, ICC World Women’s T20 Championship.
“Playing in front of our home crowd, on such a momentous occasion, will be amazing!” Matthews said in excitement, referring to the tournament which will be played in Guyana, St. Lucia and Antigua from November 9 – 24.
Considering her most recent innings in the same competition (India, 2016) was a match-winning 66 (45 balls) in the finals against a strong Australia team, who can blame her?
For the past 5 months, the WINDIES Women have been involved in high performance camps in Antigua. Hayley not only sees the hunger for success in her fellow players’ attitudes, but she has also watched their (and her own) skills develop immensely over that period.
“With the high level of technical training we received at Coolidge (Cricket Ground), the ladies have all had a chance to directly address the negative aspects of their game.” Matthews said, “the aim is to peak at the right time and put our best foot forward in this tournament.”
The WINDIES Women are currently involved in the Sandals International Home Series versus South Africa Women. After drawing the ODI segment of the series 1-1 in Barbados, the ladies managed to win the first T20 there, before moving on to Trinidad and winning the second. The third T20I was abandoned at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy (Trinidad), due to the outfield being soggy in critical areas.
The ladies will be looking to end the possibility of a draw in the 5-match series tomorrow (Thursday, October 4), when both teams meet again at the same venue.
-CWI