Hayley Matthews replaces Stafanie Taylor as West Indies Women’s captain

Stafanie Taylor captained the West Indies Women's team in 62 ODIs and 55 T20Is. She will also lead the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Women's CPL.

Hayley Matthews, on Saturday, June 25, replaced Stafanie Taylor as the skipper of the West Indies Women’s team. Taylor was one of the best skippers the Caribbean team ever produced, having led her team in 62 ODIs and 55 T20Is. Taylor last captained the West Indies in the 2022 edition of the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand.

As a captain, Taylor scored 2190 and 1484 runs respectively in ODIs and T20Is with the help of two centuries. The Women's selection panel recommended the change in leadership, after which the final decision was taken on Friday, June 24 at the Cricket West Indies Board of Directors meeting.

"The selection panel has done a review of the team including the leadership. After this review, the panel took the decision to recommend that Hayley Matthews takes over the role as captain. Hayley has made notable progress over the years, serving as Vice-Captain of the West Indies Women's Team and is the current Captain of her National Team, Barbados,” Lead selector Ann Browne-John said.

“She has matured as a player and is one of the leading players worldwide with a good grasp of the game. Given the experience that she would have gained in both roles, we are confident this is the ideal time for her to step into the role of captain," the selector stated.

"We recognize that leading the team for seven years is a considerable achievement to which Stafanie has given huge levels of commitment and energy. We believe Stafanie is a world class performer who will no doubt continue to add tremendous value to the team as one of the top all-rounders in the game," the selector added.

Matthews has played 69 ODIs and 61 T20Is thus far and is deemed as one of the best young all-rounders, along with the likes of Amelia Kerr and Deepti Sharma.

Matthews will also captain the Barbados Royals in the inaugural edition of the Women’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL). In the same tournament, Taylor will lead the Guyana Amazon Warriors. Deandra Dottin is the skipper of the third team, Trinbago Knight Riders.