Matthews was born in Barbados[4] and raised in Bridgetown, its capital and largest city. Her father, Mike, batted at no. 4 and bowled off-breaks for Pickwick Cricket Club, one of the island's leading clubs.[5] Previously, he had played in the Barbados Under-19 team.[6]
An early memory for Matthews is joining in on games of cricket between her father and older brother, Wayne, at home after school. She also recalls being taken with Wayne to the Pickwick Club's then home ground, Kensington Oval, where they would run around the ground, and onto the field during breaks.[5]
After Matthews started attending People's Cathedral Primary School, which was next door to her home, an opportunity arose for her to play the game formally. At the age of eight or nine, she asked the school's boys' team coach whether she could be a member of the team. Her request was granted.[5] By the time she was 11 years old, she had become the team's captain.[7]
At the end of her primary school years, Matthews did well enough in Barbados's controversial[8] Common Entrance examinations to be accepted into the island's most prestigious secondary school,[9][10]Harrison College,[5][6] which was founded as an all-boys school in 1733.[9] Although the college has charged no fees since the 1960s,[10] and has been co-educational since 1980,[9] it is often referred to as the 'Eton College of Barbados'.[10] Its many sporting alumni include Sir Pelham ("Plum") Warner, the "Grand Old Man" of English cricket,[11] and Sir Clyde Walcott.[12]
Soon after starting at Harrison College, Matthews joined the school's previously all-boys' Under-13 team as an opening batter. With her assistance, the team immediately won a tournament.[5] In her final year as an Under-13 player, she captained the team,[5][6] the first female to do so.[6]
Matthews recommends that talented young female cricketers play in boys' teams. She believes that her experiences in such teams assisted her with facing fast bowling, and improved her fielding. At the age of 18, she had already played in the Men's First Division for the Pickwick Club, alongside male players including West Indies batter Shai Hope.[5] As of 2022, she was still in contact with most of the male players she used to captain in her Under-13 team.[6]
Domestic cricket career
West Indies / Barbados
Matthews made her debut for the Barbadian cricket team at the age of 12.[13]
Matthews' international debut for the West Indies came at the age of 16, in a Twenty20 International against New Zealand in September 2014.[25] Matthews made her One Day International (ODI) debut a few months later,[26] scoring 55 runs from 86 balls in the first game of a four-ODI series against Australia.[27] In the second game, she scored 89 runs from 108 balls,[28] and in the third game, 60 runs from 81 balls.[29]
Matthews has been a regular for the West Indies since her debut,[25][26] and was a key member of the team that won the 2016 World Twenty20, scoring 66 runs from 45 balls in the final.[30]
In October 2018, Cricket West Indies (CWI) awarded her a women's contract for the 2018–19 season.[31][32] 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.[33][34] Ahead of the tournament, she was named as the player to watch in the team,[35] and was appointed vice-captain of the team.[36]
On April 15, 2024 Matthews was named Wisden’s Leading Twenty20 Cricketer in 2023[42]
She was named as captain of the West Indies squad for the 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup.[43] Matthews played in her 100th WT20I in the final group match against England, scoring 52 off 38 balls as West Indies clinched a semi-final place with a six-wicket win.[44][45]
International centuries
On 22 September 2018, Matthews scored her maiden ODI hundred against South Africa in front of her home crowd at Bridgetown. She had scored a duck in the opening match of the series and, after a wash-out in the second ODI, she hit 17 fours in her 146-ball 117.[46]
Matthews has played for the Warriors team in two FairBreak Invitational T20 competitions.[57][58] At the inaugural Invitational, held in Dubai in May 2022, she took 5/123 in five matches and made 153 runs at 30.60 including two half centuries:[57] 58 against the Falcons[59] and 52 against Barmy Army.[60]
During the second Invitational, in Hong Kong in April 2023, Matthews took 5/88 and made an aggregate of 168 runs in four matches.[58] Most of those runs were scored in the final, in which she was named Player of the Match after hitting 123 in 52 balls and then taking 2/14 to guide her team to victory in the match, and therefore also the tournament.[61]
Athletics career
As an athlete, Matthews competed in the javelin throw, and represented Barbados in a number of international meets and competitions. She won silver medals at the 2013 and 2014 CARIFTA Games, competing in the under-17 and under-18 categories, respectively. At the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships in Athletics, held in Mexico, she won a bronze medal in the under-18 category, while at the 2015 CARIFTA Games she won her first gold medal, again competing in the under-18 category.[62]
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