CASTRIES, St.Lucia, (CMC)-President of the WICB Dr. Julian Hunte has praised the Jamaican all-rounder, Stafanie Taylor, for impressive performances with both bat and ball during the just ended Regional Women’s Twenty20 Tournament in Jamaica. Taylor was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, scoring a chart-topping 409 runs at an average of 81.80 and joint team high of 13 wickets at 6.15 apiece.
“Words are not enough to describe the joy that Stafanie has brought to us, as she continues to set standards by which female players in the Caribbean and around the World can be judged,” said Hunte.
“Some people, I understand, are beginning to describe her as the female ‘Atlas’ because of the way she has carried Jamaica on her back, particularly with the bat, which led to her becoming the leading run scorer in the tournament.”
Jamaica were crowned champions following a 16-run victory over main rivals Trinidad & Tobago in the Grand Final at Sabina Park.
Dr.Hunte says the WICB is optimistic that Taylor’s form will boost the fortunes of the West Indies as they prepare to participate in two major tournaments.
“As the tournament falls a few weeks before the Windies Women’s limited-overs tour of the United Kingdom and the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Championship in Sri Lanka, we look forward with great anticipation to Stafanie extending her rich vein of form”said Dr.Hunte.
“Hopefully, she can help the Windies Women’s team to go two steps further than the previous ICC World T20, not only reaching the Final, but winning the title.”
It was the second major women’s final in which the Jamaicans had toppled T&T, following their capture of the Regional Women’s Super50 Tournament last year in Barbados.
Hunte also congratulated Taylor’s side on the achievement of becoming the undisputed queens of regional game.
“Throughout the tournament, they demonstrated their individual brilliance, as well as a cohesiveness to overcome the challenge of their opponents.”the WICB chief said.
“The Jamaica Cricket Association should take a bow for their support of the development side of the game, including women’s cricket, and they are reaping the successes they deserve. This victory helps Jamaica continue to set the pace for the rest of the Caribbean in the game and give evidence of the result of hard work.”
Dr. Hunte said WICB officials were pleased to see that the skills of many of the players had improved in the regional West Indies T20.
“It is heartening to see the growth and the development that has taken place in many of our female players,” he said.
“We look forward to better performances from them in the future”.