Matthews to be named World Cup ambassador

West Indies Women’s captain and wonder woman Hayley Matthews is set to be unveiled as one of the tournament ambassadors for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which will be played in the West Indies and USA from June 1 to 29.

The talismanic all-rounder, among the best players in the world, recently demonstrated her prowess in the eight-match rubber in Pakistan – winning the Player of the Series in both the One-Day Internationals and T20 Internationals.

During the ODIs Matthews became just the second West Indian to reach 2000 runs and 100 wickets, behind the legendary Stafanie Taylor.

In her role, Matthews, who was named Wisden’s Leading T20 Cricketer of 2023 last month, is expected to make appearances and also to be featured on social media posts promoting the marquee event before she leaves in early June for a series in Sri Lanka.

Other ambassadors who have been visible so far include Usain Bolt, the Olympics track and field legend, and Chris Gayle, the greatest T20 batter and two-time T20 World Cup winner.

Meanwhile, Matthews will be gearing up to lead the West Indies Women at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup which will be played in Bangladesh in October. She was one of the heroines of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2016 triumph against Australia in the final at Kolkata, India, and will want to repeat that feat when they play in Dhaka.

Each team will play four group matches at the tournament, with the top two from each group progressing to the cut-throat semi-finals on October 17 and 18 ahead of the Final at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on October 20. In total there will be 23 matches played across 19 days in Dhaka and Sylhet. (GH)