West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has risen to the top spot among all-rounders in the One-Day International
format for the first time in her career. The talismanic right-handed batter and off-spinner scored 88 runs and
grabbed five wickets in the recent CG United ODI Series against New Zealand to secure the Number 1
position in the ICC rankings announced on Tuesday. Mathews, who has been a top ranked all-rounder in T20Is in the past, has also moved up three slots to 18th among batters and two places to sixth among bowlers.
Matthews made her debut for the Barbadian cricket team at the age of 12. Her international debut for the West Indies came at the age of 16, in a Twenty20 International against New Zealand in September 2014. Matthews made her One Day International (ODI) debut a few months later, scoring 55 runs from 86 balls in the first game of a four-ODI series against Australia. In the second game, she scored 89 runs from 108 balls, and in the third game, 60 runs from 81 balls.
Matthews has been a regular for the West Indies since her debut, and was a key member of the team that won the 2016 World Twenty20, scoring 66 runs from 45 balls in the final.
Outside of playing for the West Indies, Matthews spent the 2015–16 season playing domestic cricket in Australia, representing the Tasmanian Roar in the Women’s National Cricket League and the Hobart Hurricanes in the inaugural season of the Women’s Big Bash League. In one WBBL match against the Melbourne Stars, she scored 77 runs from 51 balls.
On September 22, 2018, Matthews scored her maiden ODI hundred against South Africa in the 3rd ODI, in front
of her home crowd as Bridgetown. She scored a duck in the opening match of the series and, after a wash-out in the second ODI, Matthews struck 17 fours in her 146-ball 117 as West Indies piled up 292 after opting to bat.
In October 2018, Cricket West Indies (CWI) awarded her a Women’s contract for the 2018–19 season. Later the
same month, she was named in the West Indies’ squad for the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies. Ahead of the tournament, she was named as the player to watch in the team,[27] and was appointed vice-captain of the team.
In November 2018, she was named in the Hobart Hurricanes’ squad for the 2018–19
Women’s Big Bash League season.[29][30] In January 2020, she was named in West
Indies’ squad for the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia. In September
2020, in the third match against England, Matthews took her 50th wicket in WT20Is. In
2021, she was drafted by Welsh Fire for the inaugural season of The Hundred.
In May 2021, Matthews was awarded with a central contract from Cricket West Indies.
In October 2021, she was named in the West Indies team for the 2021 Women’s
Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament in Zimbabwe. In February 2022, she was
named in the West Indies team for the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup in New
Zealand.
In April 2022, she was bought by the Welsh Fire for the 2022 season of The Hundred.
Matthews was appointed West Indies Women’s Captain to replace Stafanie Taylor on
June 22, 2022.
Speaking on the eve of the T20I Series against New Zealand Matthews said:
“It’s pretty exciting and very grateful for the opportunity that I have been given this year
to bat at the top of the order at the World Cup to help myself and the team. I’m excited
to now be able to bring my form into this series against New Zealand and move up those
couple spots to number one.”
She added:
“I’m happy to also move up in the bowlers’ rankings but as a player I’m always looking
forward to performing for the team and I’m just grateful to be having a decent year so far.”