Women's CPL: Hayley Matthews, Stafanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin to lead teams in inaugural edition

The seasoned players of the West Indies women’s cricket team, Hayley Matthews, Stafanie Taylor, and Deandra Dottin are all set to lead their respective sides in the inaugural Women’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season this year. The three-team tournament is scheduled to kick off on August 30 and it will be hosted by St Kitts.

Hayley Matthews will be captaining the Barbados Royals while Windies skipper Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin will be leading the Guyana Amazon Warriors and Trinbago Knight Riders respectively. Meanwhile, the overseas players are yet to be announced. The men’s Caribbean Premier League has been active for nearly a decade i.e. 2013 while this will be the first-ever edition of the women’s T20 competition.

Hayley Matthews, Stafanie Taylor among the top all-rounders going around

“With Matthews and Taylor rated in the top 10 T20 allrounders in the world and Dottin one of the most destructive batters in the women’s game, all three players have shown their quality for the West Indies and in domestic competitions around the globe,” a CPL press release said.

The upcoming edition of the Women’s CPL would be a great confidence-booster for the Windies players as they start their preparations for next year’s Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa. The Caribbean team has lifted the prestigious title once, having gotten the better of a dangerous Australian team in the final in 2016.

They blew hot and cold in this year’s ICC Women’s World Cup where they narrowly managed to make the semis. However, their hopes were dashed when they were outplayed by the eventual champions Australia in the knock-out clash.

The teams have been drafted from a pool of players that was put together by Cricket West Indies (CWI’s) selection committee out of which 33 were picked to represent the region with a mixture of talent and experience. Furthermore, each team will get to sign three overseas players which will bring the total squad size to 14.

Here are the squads for the inaugural edition of the Women’s CPL:

Barbados Royals: Hayley Matthews (c), Shakera Selman, Reniece Boyce, Mandy Mangru, Britney Cooper, Aaliyah Alleyne, Shanika Bruce, Afy Fletcher, Qiana Joseph, Japhina Joseph, Chinelle Henry.

Guyana Amazon Warriors: Stafanie Taylor (c), Shemaine Campbelle, Rashada Williams, Rachael Vincent, Kaysia Schultz, Chedean Nation, Cherry-Ann Fraser, Shamilia Connell, Karishma Ramharack, Shabika Gajnabi, Zaida James.

Trinbago Knight Riders: Deandra Dottin (c), Lee Ann Kirby, Kyshona Knight, Kycia Knight, Anisa Mohammed, Natasha McLean, Shawnisha Hector, Sheneta Grimmond, Caneisha Isaac, Jannillea Glasgow, Steffie Soogrim.