HIS SIX-HITTING SPECTACLE that sealed the West Indies’ unforgettable last over conquest of England in the men’s final of the World Twenty20 in Kolkata transformed Carlos Brathwaite into an overnight superstar.
His consecutive 6, 6, 6, 6 demolition of England’s trusted “death” bowler Ben Stokes, along with his unassuming, common sense reaction to his sudden fame, has made the strapping Bajan the subject of television interviews and newspaper columns across the globe.
Had it been one of the several better known West Indians, the fascination would hardly have been the same as with Brathwaite, a first-timer.
Instead, the spotlight was likely to have shone brightly on Stafanie Taylor, captain of the triumphant women’s team and Player Of The Tournament. It was an achievement by her and her team in many ways even more significant than the men’s repeat of their 2012 title in Sri Lanka.
It was an immediate injection of confidence and interest in the women’s game that, for a variety of reasons, has taken a downward path in popularity since Rachel Heyhoe-Flint, England’s celebrated captain and player, spoke enviously of crowds of up to 6 000 watching their matches against Jamaica at Sabina Park in 1967. Both the men’s and women’s game can presently only dream of such numbers.
The fervour returned since that heady Sunday in Kolkata. The 2016 World Twenty20 women’s champions have taken the public’s imagination. When they landed in Barbados on their return they were feted with official functions, organised motorcades and tributes from the schools they attended or, in the case of 18-year-old Player Of The Final Hayley Matthew, still attend.
With no issues as yet with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and no Test cricket to demand their conflicting presence for home competitions, as it does the men, captain Taylor, Matthews, Deandra Dottin and Stacey-Anne King played for franchise teams in last season’s Women’s Big Bash in Australia; more are likely to attract the attention of the increasing number of overseas domestic T20 leagues. Taylor and Dottin have already been engaged for England’s inaugural Women’s Super League this season.
For all the obvious improvement over the increasing number of multi and bi-lateral tournaments home and overseas in recent years that elevated them to fifth of the ICC’s 10 rated teams, the women confronted the mighty Australians, seeking their fourth consecutive championship, in Kolkata. It was cricket’s Everest.
Through self-confidence and flair, allied to the enthusiastic support of the men who made it a West Indies double four hours later, they scaled the peak.
To go all the way, they first had to break the control on the women’s game of Australia, England and New Zealand where organised annual, highly competitive tournaments were parts of their seasons as far back as the 1920s. They contested their first Tests against each other in 1934 and 1935. The West Indies had a long way to catch up.
The big three contested the finals not only in the four previous World T20s, but also in the first nine of the ten World Cups. In the tenth, in India in 2013, the West Indies progressed to within sight of that summit also against Australia, only to stumble to defeat by 114 runs.
This dominance of the triumvirate extended to individuals. They provided all the previous Players Of The Tournament, as well as those with the Most Runs, Most Wickets and Players Of The Final.
Taylor (with a high 246 runs along with eight wickets), Dottin with the most wickets (nine equal with Kiwis Leigh Kasperek and Sophie Devine) and Matthews (66 and one wicket in the final) finally broke the mould.
Six years after her West Indies debut at 17, Taylor is now ranked top all-rounder in T20s by the ICC and No. 4 batter, the generic term that replaces the cumbersome “batswoman”. In ODIs, she is at No. 5.
“Batterer” would be a more appropriate label for the power-packed Dottin. Her unbeaten 112 off 45 balls against South Africa in St Kitts in 2010 is the second highest score in the five World T20s; the nine sixes are the most in an innings, the 248.88 strike rate the most devastating.
Anisa Mohammed, the crafty Trinidadian spinner, is rated second in both ODIs and T20s bowling, Taylor sixth. Not that they were the only ones to send the West Indies to the top; it was a combined effort.
It is fitting that Taylor is from Jamaica, the island that, more than any other, firmly established the women’s game in the Caribbean in the 1960s.
The Jamaica Association was founded in 1966, principally through Monica Taylor, an indefatigable business executive and former player (no relation to Stefanie). Their league and limited-overs competitions as well as the teams were sponsored, a concept before its time. It initially led to matches between Jamaica and Trinidad, where women’s cricket was also well established.
Taylor’s next move was to influence the formation of the Caribbean Women’s Cricket Federation (CWCF) that instigated annual regional competitions.
The upshot was a West Indies Test team – shorter formats would come much later – for the first series, against Australia in Jamaica in 1976 when all three matches were drawn. Tours to India and England followed. There have since been several more to all points on the women’s cricket map following the amalgamation of CWCF into the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the ICC’s concerted resolve to globalise the women’s game.
The West Indies women benefited from the exposure. Kolkata’s Eden Gardens produced their eventual apogee.
Tony Cozier is the most experienced cricket writer and broadcaster in the Caribbean.
