Clear roles and positive vibes – The keys to Hayley Matthews’ captaincy magic

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Pulses were racing all around Dubai as West Indies’ batters blasted England to all parts on Tuesday, sealing a spot in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals with a shock win.

But West Indies captain Hayley Matthews says the calmest place in the ground was out in the middle. And the inspirational West Indies skipper is hoping for a repeat in Friday’s semi-final against New Zealand, saying that a big factor behind her side’s run has been how they try to enjoy games, regardless of the scenario.

“I think for me it was mostly just about staying calm, but having fun,” Matthews said when asked about how her team pulled off a shock win. “I think we're always at our best when we're out there on the field, enjoying ourselves, being really vibrant in the field.

“I'm just encouraging every one of the youngsters to go out there and enjoy themselves – yeah it's a World Cup semi-final and it's a huge game, but we're still playing the same game that we learned in the backyards of our homes and also on the streets in the Caribbean so just enjoy it.”

The positive energy from the West Indian team was a defining feature of Tuesday’s huge win.

And Matthews says that keeping that sort of positivity is a strategic choice by some of the more talismanic characters, designed to let some of her lower-profile teammates feel under less pressure in big moments.

“You see people like Deandra Dottin in the field and how up and how vibrant she is. That's when she's charging at the ball, enjoying herself, and then we're celebrating after, like we've just taken the biggest wicket of the match.

“But yeah, I think, look, every time we step out on that field, we do take it seriously and we want to perform really, really well. But I just think we do that best when we're out there enjoying ourselves and playing really free

“Even batting with Qiana Joseph; we were having a laugh every single time she hit the ball for six and got dropped and it went over. I think all that just helped her to remain really calm and kind of let go of the nerves as well.”

Matthews is one of the best players in the world and currently tops the ICC Women’s T20 All-Rounder rankings.

And she showed her quality with another superb half-century in the win over England.

But it was her opening partner Qiana Joseph who was Player of the Match in that game, having been utilised as a pinch-hitting option at the top of the order with a clear role of going hard early.

And Matthews says that having such well-defined roles is important for a team that have previously been heavily reliant on a small handful of top players.

“I think as a team, everyone definitely is probably more specific with their roles and understand it really clearly. I think that's where our head coach Shane Deitz came in and made a massive difference.

“I think for a lot of our girls learning it was probably a bit overwhelming. Sometimes you’d think to make a difference or to make an impact in a team or in a match you had to score 50 or 60 runs in order to do that. We actually think that playing a game like T20 cricket you can make such a massive impact if you make 20 off of 12 balls, and a lot of our girls have just been given very specific roles.

“Someone like Qiana Joseph, again I keep calling her, but you can see from the last match she had one job to do and it worked out pretty well. But things like that make my life a lot easier. And I think as we look throughout our lineup and people have their specific roles, we've kind of just been able to meld it together to, I guess, put together more team performances by doing so.”

The only worry for West Indies ahead of Friday’s semi-final in Sharjah will be over the fitness of veteran Stafanie Taylor, who missed the game against England and remains a fitness doubt.

“I think they're still monitoring her,” Matthews said in Thursday’s press conference.

“It's day by day at the moment. But yeah, we're just hoping she'll be alright. If not, we'll be out there playing for her again.”

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