West Indies captain Matthews applauds T20 leagues for bolstering women's game

BENGALURU : Twenty20 leagues have transformed women's cricket from a sport that once relied on public support for survival into an appealing spectacle, according to West Indies white-ball captain Hayley Matthews.

The all-rounder, who shot to fame in the West Indies' 2016 T20 World Cup triumph, said T20 leagues like the Women's Premier League (WPL) in India have fostered global exposure and helped develop the women's game.

"I feel like once upon a time, women's cricket was probably like, 'Come and watch the game to support the women,' whereas now I feel like we have a product that's entertaining and we have these skills that people want to see us play cricket," Matthews told Reuters.

"I think just getting the opportunity to play these leagues and have all the games televised and have people watching and supporting is naturally going to help the game to grow.

"There's plenty of opportunities for women to grow in cricket and I think competitions like the WPL give a platform for the game to grow. It introduces people to the game... shows the level of skill that we have in women's cricket."

Matthews has claimed the joint most wickets (14) in the ongoing WPL season alongside Mumbai Indians teammate Amelia Kerr.

Mumbai will compete in the WPL eliminator against Gujarat Giants on Thursday after they were denied top spot in the table following their 11-run defeat by Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Monday.

"I feel like ourselves along with DC (Delhi) are ready to look at these setups (playoffs). We have a really good balance of international players as well as the local Indian players too," Matthews said.

"We get contributions from so many different participants in the team like Nat (Sciver-Brunt), Melie (Amelia Kerr), Shab (Shabnim