Stafanie Taylor said the West Indies winning the women’s World T20 title in its maiden entry into the final is a reflection of the true Calypso spirit. It was very much on view when stars of the men’s team like Darren Sammy and Andre Russell, along with former stalwart Curtly Ambrose rushed in to congratulate the victorious team and joined the spontaneous celebration.
Taylor said women’s cricket in the Caribbean just got the impetus it was looking for with this triumph.
Not a flukePointing out that the win was not a fluke, Taylor said her team prepared well for the tournament and that they were, “really focused and had the belief to do well.” The West Indian all-rounder, who put on a record opening stand of 120 runs with Hayley Matthews against Australia, said controversies do not really affect them.
“We don’t really get caught up in what is happening. We are focused on cricket and we just believe in concentrating on playing the game in the right spirit,” Taylor said. “I can just hope that women’s cricket grow from here on,” she added.
“We need to build on the success and back it up with some good infrastructure. We need to encourage young players and create a pool of talent so that the next set is ready by the time present core goes out,” was her take on the rebuilding process.
Taylor said the T20 format has really caught the imagination of the Caribbean players and the decision to play in the big leagues like the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia has helped a lot.
WBBL experience valuableCiting the example of 19-year-old Matthews, whose brilliant batting helped her team end the hegemony of teams like Australia and England in women’s cricket, Taylor said the WBBL experience became quite valuable. “Playing in the WBBL has actually helped us. The exposure was good for her (Matthews). She showed lot of maturity in the way she played. We take this as a stepping stone as we move on from here,” Taylor said while stating her wish to venture into other formats as also play Test cricket.
Australian captain Meg Lanning said her team slowed down in the end and a total of around 160 would have been more challenging. The Australian captain, who had helped the team to the title in the last edition, said the batting of Matthews created the difference. “She (Matthews) is very talented and we were not surprised the way she batted. We needed 160-plus to set us up. It was disappointing not to finish after getting such a good start,” she added.
Lanning said her team needs to work harder to stay on top. “They (West Indies) have caught up and have gone past. We need have to keep improving to stay on top. There are no easy games in cricket anymore,” she said on the significance the West Indian triumph.
