Shakera Selman: Talent search begins in WCPL

Former West Indies women's team player Shakera Selman says the 2024 Massy Women's Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) tournament provides a great opportunity for younger players to seize the moment and carve out a name for themselves in the regional and international game.

The third edition of the WCPL will be played from August 21-29 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba, Trinidad, with defending champions Barbados Royals taking on Guyana Amazon Warriors in the tournament-opener from 7 pm on August 21.

Selman, 34, who confirmed her retirement from the international game this January, alongside the veteran trio of Anisa Mohammed and Kycia and Kyshona Knight, will be representing the Warriors. Mohammed and the Knight twins will be playing for Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR), who lifted the inaugural WCPL in 2022.

"We all know and we've seen what franchise tournaments around the world have done for women's cricket," said Selman, during a welcome reception for the WCPL players at the Trinidad Hilton in PoS on August 19.

"When you look at Australia, England and India, you see the impact it has had on their improvement in cricket. We're hoping it can do the same thing here in the Caribbean as well."

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews, one of the premier players in the women's game, hit a brilliant 82 in last year's WCPL final to help the Royals past Selman's Warriors by a narrow eight-run margin.

Matthews was the most prolific batter in women's Twenty/20 internationals last year, and she was named as the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women's T20 Cricketer of the Year for 2023.

Selman hopes the WCPL can help unearth a regional player of Matthews' quality.

"It's an opportunity for young girls to show their talent. And hopefully we can find another Hayley Matthews," Selman said. "It's an opportunity for people all over the globe to see what we have in the Caribbean."

Selman said the younger players should also take advantage of the chance to learn from experienced players such as Australian Meg Lanning, who was drafted by TKR, as well as Jhulan Goswami, who was added to TKR's staff as a mentor.

The 41-year-old Goswami played over 200 matches for India in a 20-year career, taking over 350 wickets across all formats.

Former West Indies skipper Stafanie Taylor, who will be leading the Warriors team, says her team is determined to lift the WCPL title after finishing as runners-up last year.

"I think for us it's about trying to focus on the positives. I know that last year would have really put a dent on things the way we were performing," Taylor told Newsday.

"We probably thought we had last year's title in the bag," she said," Taylor said. "Hopefully, we can kinda turn things around and make it our year. We've been knocking on the door a little while now so it will be nice to come away with a trophy."

Taylor said the camaraderie in the Warriors camp is good and her team can't wait to hit the ground running.

"I think the growth of the tournament has been really good...I've spoken a lot about the integration of those young players with the seniors so it's really nice to see that coming through," Taylor said.

"I just hope that it goes and gets better. At the end of the day, a lot of the seniors are going to retire some day. The youngsters have to take over at some point."

Taylor pinpointed the Guyanese pair of 20-year-old off-spinner Ashmini Munisar and 19-year-old leg-spinner Nyia Latchman as two of the youngsters she expects to show their mettle this season.

Another leggy, Afy Fletcher, is ready to execute and help the Royals to back-to-back titles. She doesn't think the team is under pressure to repeat.

"Everybody has talent and every team has their players who are match-winners," Fletcher told Newsday.

"I think whoever plays the best on their day will come out victorious and I hope that the Royals can give a good showcase performance like (we) did last year and show we can stand up."

Fletcher, 37, has grabbed 159 wickets for the Windies across formats, and she plans on bringing her experience to the fore to steer Royals to the final on August 29.

"I hope the players aren't feeling pressured. All we have to do is come out on the day and give the best cricket we can."