The curtains were drawn on the inaugural editions of the 6IXTY on Sunday evening in St.Kitts and Nevis, with the Barbados Royals and the St.Kitts and Nevis Patriots walking away with the Women’s and Men’s titles, respectively. Now, ahead of the first-ever Women’s Caribbean Premier League, captains of the three participating franchises reflected on the concluded 6IXTY, while looking ahead to the upcoming longer version which is set to kick off on Wednesday in Basseterre.
Relaying her impression of the competition, winning skipper, Hayley Matthews expressed her excitement at the T10 competition and its unique rules.
“The entire tournament so far has been pretty fun. Obviously, [it is] a new format but it has been pretty exciting for everyone involved. I think this tournament has done a lot for women’s cricket in the Caribbean and I think it’s going to continue to do a lot for women’s cricket in the Caribbean.
“Obviously, getting the win [in the final] was massive for Barbados and the Royals family. Everyone is in pretty high spirits now going into the CPL. Obviously, it’s going to be a pretty challenging couple of games with two great teams that we’re coming up against but we [are] backing ourselves to hopefully put in some good performances and to do the double.”
The opening batter also spoke of the roles franchise tournaments such as THE 6IXTY play in developing young players.
“I think the whole reason [for] and a lot of importance in this tournament is definitely the growth of young players. And I think the more young players we have coming through a system like this, the better it is going to be for West Indies cricket on the whole.”
“Obviously, we are going to want young players developing [and] being able to break out in tournaments like these and come into the West Indies set up and hopefully on to International level. So I think getting the opportunity to play with players like Chloe Tryon and the Sune Luus’ and the very experienced players from overseas [is very important].
“The young players can pick their brains a bit [and] take the opportunity and try to learn from them. Hopefully, that will be able to help them progress a bit quicker than just being in a domestic setup.”
She concluded by sharing the positives of leading a team that includes overseas players.
“I think it was probably just a bit more fun. Obviously, having so many Internationals around takes a bit of the pressure off me. I definitely have a lot more players to lean on when it comes to making tough decisions.
“[I have] Shakera Selman as my vice-captain and we have a core of West Indies players as well as the two Internationals (Fatima Sana and Chloe Tryon). So the support has been really good from the team. I have been able to lean on them a lot in crucial times and make sure I can ask questions and get their opinions on a lot of stuff.
“So, I would probably say that captaining at this level kind of eases the pressure a little bit because of the amount of support that I will have around me, versus, I guess, Barbados’ domestic setup.”
While her team missed out in the final, despite a strong start to the group stage, Guyana Amazon Warriors skipper, Stafanie Taylor praised the quality of cricket displayed.
“I thought the tournament was really good. We had a lot of fun even though we didn’t win. I thought we saw some really good cricket, especially [in the final]. We thought the final went really well. [And] we are looking forward to the CPL [and] coming up against two strong teams. Hopefully, this time, we will be able to make the final.”
Responding to if the Amazon Warriors’ batting might be better suited to T20 cricket, Taylor said, “I do believe so. I just think that [with] the batters that we have, we could have done a lot better in THE 6IXTY.”
“Sometimes those things do happen, where some of the batters don’t come off. We are hoping that with the longer version, [batters] will have more time to get themselves in, and hopefully, take us over the line when we need it.”
Given that THE 6IXTY lasted just five days, Taylor doubts her team will require any form of acclimatization to the T20 format, but says the Amazon Warriors’ camp will have a discussion concerning a potential change of approach.
“I do not think it will be difficult (acclimatizing). As I said, with the T20s now coming up, we are going to have more time for batters to get themselves in
“I am not sure what the [batting] line-up will be. We’ll definitely have a discussion with the Head Coach around that, but I’m not sure if we will have [many] changes”.
The former WINDIES captain also hinted at a few new faces in the XI at some point in the CPL. “Hopefully we could give some of the young faces opportunities because sometimes it is not all about winning but also improving other players.
“And I think we have some young players in the group and we’ll definitely want to give them the opportunity on this stage to showcase what they can do.”
Now, Deandra Dottin, whose Knight Riders fell victim to the Royals in the final, like her opposite numbers, is also chomping at the bit for the start of the WCPL:
“To be honest, I think it was a lovely tournament. [It was] good [to] experience it for the first time. We had some fun, we bonded well. The team is actually in high spirits despite the result [in the final].
“After the game yesterday I had a word with my players and I told them that I am still proud of them – they came a long way. We are looking forward to doing great things in the CPL.”
Dottin was pleased with the reception of the crowd to this first-of-its-kind women’s franchise competition in the Caribbean.
“To be honest, I think the crowd was great. To have that [many] people in the stadium and supporting us as women cricketers, it was great. And I actually think it is a start for franchise cricket in terms of the CPL and THE 6IXTY in the Caribbean.”
On potential changes in the TKR batting order, Dottin had this to say: “Sure, there will be a couple [of] changes in the batting lineup as it is the full twenty overs and not the shorter version – the sixty.”
The all-rounder also thinks strike rotation will play a bigger part in the extended format. “I think it is very important for us to rotate the strike. I think with a little more balls and a little more time, it [strike rotation] will be a lot better.”
The Women’s Caribbean Premier league bowls off on Wednesday with the Royals taking on the Knight Riders at 2 PM local time.
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