Captain Hayley Matthews has underscored the importance of consistency if West Indies Women are to make an impact at next month’s ICC Twenty20 World Cup, and believes the pitches will also be a decisive factor in results.
The Caribbean side, winners of the 2016 edition of the tournament India, have found themselves on a wretched nine-game losing streak in T20 Internationals but Matthews said he was buoyed by their “strategic and calculated” preparation for the South African showpiece.
“As a team we have big aspirations of playing a high level of competitive cricket. One of the main objectives we have is to expectantly showcase our improvements upon our first-round exit from the tournament in 2020,” Matthews said in her column for the International Cricket Council.
“We’ve had time to regroup and make developments to both our individual and team game which can hopefully assist us in creating some upsets, to take us along a path to the finals.
“In a contentious tournament like this, we believe consistent performances are vital to a successful run. As a result, we believe a confident run can also bring about the breakout of budding talent within the squad.”
He added: “Heading into this tournament, our immediate preparation has been very strategic and calculated. It has given us the opportunity to acclimatise to the conditions in South Africa, an entire month early.
“This comes through our Tri Nation series against India and the hosts themselves, who are both world class opponents going into a tournament like this.”
Since their 2016 triumph, West Indies have suffered several disappointments in T20 World Cup outings. In 2018, they were good enough to reach the semi-finals before being dumped out by Australia Women and in 2020, they won just one of four games to miss out on the final four.
The Caribbean side have continued to struggle of recent, whitewashed 5-0 by England Women in the Caribbean last December and then losing all four games of their Tri-Series this month. (CMC)