The Women’s Caribbean Premier League reaches its climax on Wednesday morning in Providence, and once again Barbados Royals are centre stage. They have appeared in every final since the competition began and are now chasing a third straight title. Only three sides contest the WCPL, yet the Royals’ hold over the tournament is still striking.
This season could easily have unravelled before it started. Regular captain Hayley Matthews, a cornerstone on and off the field, was ruled out by a shoulder injury, leaving all-rounder Chinelle Henry to pick up the reins. She admits the call came as a jolt.
“When she [Matthews] called me and asked me to be captain [because] she wasn’t going to be available, it was quite like, ‘yeah, just give me a moment to think about that’,” Henry recalls with a laugh. Matthews, she adds, told her: “you probably could be that person, because you have been around the team all the seasons before, as a senior player in the squad”.
The leadership shift has not altered the end result: four group matches, four wins, including two over their opponents in the final, Guyana Amazon Warriors. Only Trinbago Knight Riders, inaugural champions in 2022, have broken the Royals’ monopoly on the trophy. Guyana are yet to win it.
Henry credits continuity for the latest surge. “Over the years, we have had a majority of the same girls playing on the team, so when it comes to culture, we already know what that’s like in terms of the players that we already have and the overseas players that we try to get into the squad,” she says. “Once they come in and get a feel of what the girls are about, everybody just fits right in and that’s what’s been the core thing for us this season.”
Matthews has remained a presence in the background. “Yes, Hayley’s not here, but how we play, how we come together as a group… she was here a few days ago, she had a few words for us,” Henry notes. “She will talk to me to say what she thinks, give a bit of advice, but it’s never anything to question my ability to lead the team. And that’s where she is really that person that trusts and believes in players and believes that players can step up when they need to.”
If Henry provides the glue, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu has been the headline act. The left-hander is the tournament’s leading run-scorer and, just as importantly for a short competition, the Royals’ most economical bowler. Her all-round output has masked the obvious gap left by Matthews and allowed the rest to play specific roles rather than chase lost production.
Henry is quick to highlight that contribution. “Whenever you call on her, she is ready to do her all for the team,” she says. “The final is the biggest stage, that’s the game that matters.”
The skipper is equally clear about the mindset required against a Warriors outfit desperate to upset the established order. “We go into Wednesday’s game with everything that we have and the girls are ready to fight. We’ve been in the finals and we know what it feels like to win finals, and we want to make it another one for us, so we go into the final with no complacency.”
On paper the Royals hold every advantage: form, experience, squad depth and a self-belief forged by trophies already in the cabinet. Yet Henry knows a single T20 can twist quickly. Her side have been clinical, but not flawless; the powerplay batting has stuttered at times and the death bowling has relied heavily on Athapaththu’s variations.
For Guyana, then, the route is obvious: early wickets to expose a middle order that has not had much time in the middle, and controlled aggression in the closing overs to test nerves that have hardly been touched in four matches. It sounds straightforward, but the Warriors have yet to manage it this season.
Still, finals have their own rhythm. A loose first over, a freak boundary catch, a rare no-ball – any of them can tilt momentum. Henry, pressed on pressure, shrugs. “It’s just stepping into that spotlight and still playing my game,” she says, almost as if reminding herself as much as anyone else.
Providence has not always been kind to chasing sides under lights, the pitch tending to slow as the evening settles. Teams winning the toss have preferred to bat first and squeeze later with spin. The Royals’ attack – Athapaththu’s off-cutters, Afy Fletcher’s leg-spin, and the skiddy medium pace of Henry herself – is tailor-made for that template. Guyana may feel compelled to flip the script and go with the extra seamer, banking on early swing.
Whatever unfolds, Wednesday will underline a simple truth about this short, three-team tournament: sustained excellence is harder than it looks. The Royals have made dominance appear routine, but it rests on planning, familiarity and, as Henry’s unexpected promotion shows, the ability to adapt overnight.
She would still rather have Matthews out there. Everyone would. Yet as the new captain surveys an unbeaten run, the message is unflinching: the badge stays bigger than any individual. Win or lose, that culture is what will travel beyond Providence.
Just don’t expect the Royals to settle for anything but the prize.
