Castries, St. Lucia — Jamaica received huge praise from officials of the West Indies Cricket Board, after their capture of the Regional Women’s Twenty20 Tournament on Saturday on home soil.
The hosts were crowned champions following a 16-run victory over main rivals Trinidad & Tobago in the Grand Final at Sabina Park in the Jamaica capital of Kingston.
It was the second major women’s final in which the Jamaicans had toppled T&T, following their capture of the Regional Women’s Super50 Tournament last year in Barbados.
President of the WICB Dr. Julian Hunte congratulated Stafanie Taylor’s side on the achievement, becoming the undisputed queens of regional game.
"On behalf of the WICB, I would like to congratulate the Jamaica women’s national team on another commendable performance," said Dr. Hunte.
"Throughout the tournament, they demonstrated their individual brilliance, as well as a cohesiveness to overcome the challenge of their opponents."
He added: "The Jamaica Cricket Association should take a bow for their support of the development side of the game, including women’s cricket, and they are reaping the successes they deserve.
"This victory helps Jamaica continue to set the pace for the rest of the Caribbean in the game and give evidence of the result of hard work."
Dr. Hunte offered special congratulations to Taylor. The West Indies Women’s all-rounder was undeniably the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, scoring a chart-topping 409 runs at an average of 81.80 and joint team high of 13 wickets at 6.15 apiece.
"Words are not enough to describe the joy that Stafanie has brought to us, as she continues to set standards by which female players in the Caribbean and around the World can be judged," he said.
"Some people, I understand, are beginning to describe her as the female ‘Atlas’ because of the way she has carried Jamaica on her back, particularly with the bat, which led to her becoming the leading run scorer in the tournament."
Dr. Hunte added: "As the tournament falls a few weeks before the Windies Women’s limited-overs tour of the United Kingdom and the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Championship in Sri Lanka, we look forward with great anticipation to Stafanie extending her rich vein of form.
"Hopefully, she can help the Windies Women’s team to go two steps further than the previous ICC World T20, not only reaching the Final, but winning the title."
Dr. Hunte said WICB officials were pleased to see that the skills of many of the players had improved in the RWT20.
"It is heartening to see the growth and the development that has taken place in many of our female players," he said. "We look forward to better performances from them in the future.
"This tournament is another primary example of the reward on the investment made in the players. The WICB continues to see the development of players at all levels as vital to the present and future success of the game in the Caribbean."
Dr. Hunte also thanked the JCA and the people of Jamaica for their continued support of the game at all levels.
"It is a fine time to be Jamaican," he said. "And moreso a fan of cricket in Jamaica.
"The JCA and its personnel must be commended for the work they did with the organisation of the tournament – the first major women’s cricket event staged in the island – and the people of Jamaica must be honoured for the support they gave to the players throughout the last two weeks."