…-All-star Matthews bags 4 individual awards

By Clifton Ross
FOLLOWING weeks of intense cricket action between the best-of-the-best in the Caribbean, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), on Saturday night last, honoured those women and their teams for their outstanding performances at the recently concluded Cricket West Indies (CWI)/CG Insurance Blaze T20 and Super50 tournaments.

The awards ceremony and gala, held at the poolside of the Ramada Hotel, featured all the participating teams along with their coaches, being honoured for their contributions, but, more so, making women’s cricket a huge part of the sport’s direction presently.

While Barbados emerged winners of the 50-Over leg, the Jamaicans held their own as they were crowned Blaze T20 champions. Barbados added this title after winning the T20 Blaze back in 2018 and 2019 here in Guyana. The hosts, Guyana had a topsy-turvy tournament and managed to finish in 4th spot for both the T20 and Super50.

Undoubtedly, the star of Saturday evening’s celebration, was world-ranked number one women’s player and Bajan skipper Hayley Matthews. The classy all-rounder, who was named new West Indies Women’s skipper, taking over the helm from Jamaica Captain Stefanie Taylor, was the recipient of the Best All-round Award for her sublime display in both the T20 Blaze and Super50 Cup tournamets.

In both departments, the opener outplayed almost every other lady in the tournament, racking up 187 runs and bagging 8 wickets in the Super50 Cup. In the T20s, she scored 191 runs to go along with her 6 wickets, toppling the competition.

For the bowlers, it was Shanika Bruce, another Barbados player who copped the award for the most wickets in the T20 Blaze with 9 victims under her belt. The award for bowlers was a tussle however, as Jamaica teammates Chinelle Henry and off-spinner Vanessa Watts, finished as joint highest wicket-takers in the Super50 Cup with nine wickets apiece.

In his feature address, GCB president Bissondyal Singh said that he was pleased to have such an impactful women’s series here on Guyanese soil, adding that it was a pleasure to witness some, if not the best, women’s West Indies players representing their respective countries with much poise and success.

He said that the tournament was a great way to continue opening more doors as it relates to ensuring women’s cricket reaches the pinnacle it deserves.

Meanwhile, West Indies Women’s Head Coach, former West Indies Test bowler, Courtney Walsh, commended the players for their work and encouraged them to continue striving for greatness as ambassadors of women’s cricket.

“It’s been a while since we had women’s regional cricket and I want to commend all the teams and players for playing hard cricket. It’s good to see the efforts made and I and the selectors have had a good look at the talent on show. For us, it gives us vital information on players we haven’t seen for two years and also players who have been on our radar”, Walsh said.