Matthews laments lack of standout performances after West Indies’ exit

West Indies Women’s Captain Hayley Matthews said her team lacked stand-out, match-winning performances at the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Despite the West Indies reaching the semi-finals of the tournament, Matthews disclosed that the team did not play a complete game.
The skipper also said she is here to stay and inspire the future generation.
“For the entire tournament, I feel that we haven’t had too many individual standout performances. I think we had Shemaine [Campbelle] in that first game alongside Aaliyah [Alleyne]. We had Chinelle [Henry] score 50 in that match against England. But I think when we look overall as a group, we haven’t had enough players really put their hands up and take control of a game. And in T20 cricket, you always need someone stepping up and putting down good performances. And I think that’s probably what we lack, not only today but the entire tournament.” she continued.
“I want to still play for West Indies, there’s no doubt about that. I always feel like the West Indies has given me the opportunity to represent myself, to be a part of franchise cricket. And it might be the most stressful thing and probably one of the harder jobs around, but it’s where the passion comes from. I certainly feel personally that I have a real opportunity to not only represent myself but also to make a difference. I’ve seen so many young girls in the Caribbean already probably want to play cricket or take up cricket because of me, and knowing that I have that power and I guess that influence in a country and in a region where women’s cricket and women’s sports as a whole probably aren’t represented massively, hopefully I could just inspire a few young ladies or a few more young ladies to take up the game.”
Matthews is confident fellow star players in Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin are staying the course with this West Indies side as well.
“I haven’t necessarily heard either of [Stafanie or Deandra] talking about retirement yet, thankfully. I think there’s still a lot of passion from them to play. I think what’s most important for them is just a healthy team environment, and I think right now the passion that we have within the group has driven a lot of them.”
“I think the fresh faces that we have within the young girls and the way that they’ve come into the team and have exhibited the want to learn definitely make them feel like they can play a massive role, like it has made me. And hopefully that combination of the young new players alongside Stef and Deandra and Afy [Fletcher] can keep them driven to understand that their role is so much bigger than just going out and batting and bowling as well,” Matthews said.