Why is Barbados, and not West Indies, one of the eight women’s cricket teams in CWG 2022?
Not exactly a full-strength West Indies squad, but Barbados Women feature a number of key players representing the Caribbean Islands at the highest level, such as captain Hayley Matthews, star all-rounder Deandra Dottin, twin sisters Kycia and Kyshona Knight, Shakera Salman. Aaliyah Alleyne and Shamilia Connell. Each, with the exception of Alleyne, was part of the team that lifted the 2016 Women’s T20 World Cup in India, suggesting they have the manpower to win a world title.
But why is Barbados, and not the West Indies, one of the eight women’s cricket teams in CWG 2022?
How did the Barbados Women qualify for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games?
The International Cricket Council (ICC) had announced a qualification process for the 2020 Commonwealth Games, and the top-ranked teams automatically entered the competition, including England, by virtue of being the hosts. The eighth and final spot went to Sri Lanka, who won the qualifying tournament with Bangladesh, Scotland, Malaysia and Kenya in January this year.
The West Indies were direct qualifiers under the ranking regulation, and so a tour with Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and two composite teams representing the Leeward and Windward Islands – was planned to determine which of the Caribbean countries would to reach the marquee event.
The competition was eventually canceled due to Covid-19 and Barbados after winning the regional Twenty20 Blaze competition, the West Indies regional competition, was selected as a participant in the 2022 CWG.
Their matches in the competition will have T20I status, like all other games, and players’ stats will go into their T20I profiles.
The last form
Barbados won the 2022 Women’s Super50 Cup, a women’s 50-over cricket competition played in the West Indies, in June, which was preceded by a runners-up finish in the 2022 Twenty20 Blaze, where they were level on points with eventual champions Jamaica ( 16), but failed in net run rate (NRR).
A number of their players were part of the West Indies squad at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand in March-April this year, where they went down to eventual champions Australia by 153 runs in a shortened semi-final. 45 overs.
Barbados female players to watch out for
Hayley Matthews
The fifth-ranked all-rounder in the ICC Women’s Rankings, captain Hayley Matthews holds the key to the team’s fortunes in CWG 2022, all the more with the bat to hold the innings together from the start and deliver when required. She was West Indies’ standout mouthpiece at the World Cup earlier this year and led the top-scorers in both the Women’s Super50 Cup as well as the Twenty20 Blaze at home recently, offering plenty of promise ahead of the campaign.
Her right-arm spins, which have so far accounted for 58 T20I wickets at an economy just short of running the ball, add variety and stability to the bowling attack.
West Indies and Barbados women’s captain Hayley Matthews and CWI president Ricky Skerritt after a sit-down discussion in Birmingham, England. Hayley is competing in the Games and Skerritt is attending the ICC Annual General Meeting and Conference nearby. pic.twitter.com/smzJLlbapU
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) July 26, 2022
Deandra Dottin
A powerful and free-flowing batsman, Deandra Dottin had hit a 38-ball hundred against South Africa in the Women’s T20 World Cup in 2010 – still the fastest ever in women’s T20Is. She was still in her teens then and has continued to evolve as an international cricketer for more than a decade. Dottin, one of only four women players to achieve a double of 2,000 runs and 50 wickets in T20Is, forms a formidable pair with Matthews at the helm.
Apart from the devastating stroke, her right-arm medium pace adds great experience and dimension to the bowling attack.
Barbados Women’s Games at Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
July 29, Friday: Barbados Women vs Pakistan Women, 11.30pm
July 31, Sunday: Australia Women vs Barbados Women, 11.30pm
August 3, Wednesday: Barbados Women vs India Women, 11.30pm
Tournament preview
Group stage exit
Barbados have been placed in Group A alongside world champions Australia, T20 World Cup 2020 runners-up India and Pakistan. The top two present a tough challenge and they will need to overcome at least one of them to have a good chance of a top-four finish.
Barbados may fancy their chances against Pakistan, but their eight-wicket haul in the World Cup earlier this year does not serve the best of memories. All that said, they have a number of match-winners in their ranks, and perhaps even an individual brilliance can be enough on a given day.
Barbados women’s team
Hayley Matthews (c), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shanika Bruce, Shai Carrington, Shaunte Carrington, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Keila Elliott, Trishan Holder, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Alisa Scantlebury, Shakera Selman, Tiffany Athorpe,
