Hayley Matthews has taken over the captaincy of the West Indies women’s cricket team from Stafanie Taylor. Matthews will lead the team from the next series which is expected later in the year. The announcement was made after the CWI (Cricket West Indies) board of directors meeting on June 24.
Taylor took over the captaincy in 2015 and led the side in 107 international matches, including 62 ODIs and 55 T20Is. Under her leadership, West Indies won 25 ODIs and 33 T20Is. Her highest point as a captain came in 2016 when she steered her side to ICC Women’s World T20 championship title.
Apart from being a good captain, Stafanie Taylor has been a prolific all-rounder. The right-handed batter is the leading run-getter for West Indies across formats with 5298 runs in 145 ODIs and 3121 runs in 111 T20Is. With the ball, the wily off-spinner has claimed 152 ODI wickets and 98 T20I wickets.
Stafanie Taylor’s record as captain
| Format | Number of matches as captain | Number of matches won | Winning percentage |
| ODI | 62 | 25 | 40.32 |
| T20I | 55 | 33 | 60.00 |
Apart from being a good captain, Taylor has been a prolific all-rounder. The right-handed batter is the leading run getter for West Indies across formats with 5298 runs in 145 ODIs and 3121 runs in 111 T20Is. With the ball, the wily off spinner has claimed 152 ODI wickets and 98 T20I wickets.
Taking over the reins from Taylor will be a matter of pride for Matthews, who made her international debut in 2014. She took some giant strides in her international career and her highest point to date came in the finals of ICC Women’s World T20 in 2016 when she won the player of the match award for her match-winning innings of 66 from 45 balls. Her consistent all-round performance was rewarded with the vice captainship of West Indies in 2018. She has mustered 1764 runs and picked up 78 wickets in 69 ODIs, and registered 1055 runs and accounted for 58 wickets in 61 T20Is.
After being announced as the captain of West Indies, Matthews said, “I am both humbled and honored to be given the opportunity to captain the West Indies women’s team. It is definitely an exhilarating feeling and I welcome the experience to lead and learn with open arms. This team has been very close to my heart from the beginning of my professional career eight years ago and the influence of Stafanie’s leadership throughout those eight years has played a major role in the player I am today. I would like to thank Stafanie for her astounding leadership of the team over the years. We’ve accomplished some of our biggest milestones with her at the forefront and I look forward to continuing playing alongside her.”
I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.