“They’re unpredictable, we’ve experienced it before. I remember the 2016 World Cup. Britney Cooper came out of nowhere.” You can see why this is New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine’s enduring memory from that 2016 World Cup semifinal when the West Indies pipped the White Ferns by just six runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Cooper scored a 48-ball 61, proving the Windies innings’ fulcrum. She stitched key partnerships with Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin. From there, West Indies went on to beat Australia in the final to win its maiden World T20 crown in Kolkata.
Cooper, who has since retired from the game and now dabbles in coaching, spoke to Sportstar about that innings, that triumphant campaign for the West Indies and why cricket in the Caribbean Islands still has a long way to go. Excerpts:
Q: Take us back to 2016. You were part of the team that lifted a T20 World title for the first time. What are your memories of that campaign and that match where you played an important role in getting them across the line against New Zealand?
A: The one thing similar, from then to now is that, as a team, we are always on the back foot. In 2016, in that crucial game against India in Mohali, we won a game no one expected us to win and made the semifinal. No one expected us to beat New Zealand in the semifinal. We were always on the back foot here too. A couple of days ago, everybody expected England to defeat the West Indies and walk into the knockouts.
The thing about Caribbean people is, that whenever we are put on the back foot, that’s where an extra piece of strength or power comes from. It’s a very young team led by Hayley Matthews. She has been doing an excellent job. You’re seeing, plenty of senior players step up and youngsters understanding the requirements of international cricket. One thing common between then and now is that no one is expecting the Windies women to win.
Q: Do you remember that batting innings at all?
Oh yes. I remember the game against India before the semifinal first. I didn’t play because I had a niggle. Back then, I was a floater on the team so I was always padded up. If the coach stood up and said, ‘Coops, it’s time to go in,’ I was already in that zone.
When the first wicket fell, I won’t lie, I was nervous. It was a World Cup semifinal. We weren’t meeting New Zealand for the first time in a semifinal, we had done so in 2010 as well. First ball - I nicked it outside and it went for four through third man. I felt, ‘Okay… this will work’.
That innings just happened. As it went on, I kept telling myself that I had nothing to lose. I understood my role - to just go there and hit the ball. I am so thankful to my coach, Vasbert Drakes, who had faith in me to go and play freely.
Q: Did you think West Indies would make the semis this time?
Every World Cup we enter, we believe that we can make it to the semifinal. We’ve been to six semifinals before crossing the line for the first time in 2016. Being in the semifinal feels like the norm. But we want to come out of that norm where we just reach a semifinal. We don’t want to be happy with just playing a World Cup semifinal. We want to show why we deserve to be in the final.
The likes of Stafanie Taylor, Hayley Mathews, Deandra Dottin who is back, and Shermaine Campbell – these are players who had success with that group in 2016. They have so much experience playing in the World Cup and are going to share that with the youngsters. Look at Hayley during this tournament or Stafanie in that game against Scotland where she scored 40-odd runs. They are always having conversations with the youngsters.
Q: You went about scoring very briskly in that 61-run knock. Why did you pace that innings the way you did?
Because I understood my role, it didn’t matter who was partnering me at the other end. We had just lost Stafanie at one point and then Dottin. At that time, the opponent would have expected us to go into a shell. New Zealand expected that. I kept going, I kept attacking. It didn’t matter if wickets were falling. My role didn’t change.
The one thing similar, from then to now is that, as a team, we are always on the back foot, says Britney Cooper. (File Photo) | Photo Credit: VIVEK BENDRE
Q: How does a woman take up cricket in the Caribbean islands?
In the Caribbean, we are a part of small islands all separated by water. Since we all play for that one board – Cricket West Indies – it is hard to come together to train. Most of the time, our camps are held away from our home country. As a youngster when I started, cricket wasn’t known in Trinidad and Tobago. Up to this day, even after the success we saw in the 2016 World Cup, it’s still difficult for young girls to get facilities to train, and to acquire a professional coach for one-on-one coaching. Compared to the other boards or nations, we don’t have deep back pockets where our board can pump millions of dollars into women’s cricket.
Several senior players and even youngsters coming through will tell you how their uncles, aunts or brothers used to be the nudge to get into the game, throwing them balls to practise. Or they used to play on the road or in a park or they passed a park where they saw some boys playing and decided to join.
It’s very hard for us in the Caribbean to just walk into a facility or have a national facility where we can just walk in and use it for our game.
Q: What pathways exist for those interested in the sport to eventually make it to the national side?
When I first started, I did not get a chance to play U-19 cricket. There’s a U-19 regional tournament that the Trinidad and Tobago Women’s Association used to undertake and sponsor. Now, Cricket West Indies is a joint sponsor and is hosting the U-19 regional tournament. I’ve heard that CWI is going to start a U-19 and U-16 regional tournament where you will see younger girls get an opportunity to train at a high performance.
The grassroot program in the Caribbean is not the healthiest. It is difficult to ask youngsters to leave school early, sacrifice time from their school to go to training, to go to games or even to fly to another country to be there for a camp. Because we know that there’s not much money coming into the sport. If you are not playing for West Indies women around the Caribbean, there’s no income in cricket for women. So, it’s difficult to ask youngsters to sacrifice their time or the chance to be fully educated to pursue a cricket career.
Q: After that 2016 win, over the years, we’ve seen the Caribbean Premier League come up for women. But what was the immediate impact of that win for the women in cricket in the Caribbean?
One of the things that improved was having more or longer camps. So when we hosted the World Cup in 2018, we spent at least seven or eight months in that year in Antigua (where the national camp is held). We basically would get to go home for a week or 10 days and then would slot back into the camp in Antigua. It was non-stop. That changed a bit and we got more frequent training.
However, things did not change in the individual territories. A lot happened in Antigua but back home in our countries, cricket was still at the same level as we left it. No increase in school cricket or programmes for U-15 and U-19. More camps became the only thing, but that camp too only catered to the top 30 players in the region. What about the next 20 or 30 who weren’t getting opportunities? Because of this, talents that do come through show a bit of lag in showcasing their strengths internationally. England and Australia have young players who look like they’ve been playing international cricket for years because of robust domestic systems.
You don’t see territories individually investing money into the game or the youngsters either. We have a U-19 regional tournament that happened in April-May. But that’s not enough. The gap between those U19 players and international cricket is too big. We need a better assembly line connecting U-19 talents for the senior team too.
READ | Women’s T20 World Cup 2024: West Indies faces New Zealand in Sharjah, eyes repeat of 2016 semifinals
Q: At the moment, what does the domestic structure look like?
We have a senior regional tournament (50-over and 20-over), which goes on for about three weeks between six teams. Sometimes you see two games getting washed out or the full duration not being played. Money increasing is good, incentives are increasing too. But at the very base, our players should be playing more regionally because the level of cricket in the individual territories is just not enough to challenge anyone there.
Q: If West Indies manages to go all the way, what do you hope changes for the side?
I would love to see more games being played. I would love to see Cricket West Indies go to these territorial boards and set up a program because, in each country, there are coaches, physios and trainers. But, these coaches and physios and trainers are only available to contracted players. If you’re not in the camps, you’re left out of the development pool. I want to see a wider Windies cricket programme where players get the opportunity to train and pursue the sport in their local setting.
Q: Did this influence you to take up that coaching role with Bermuda Cricket?
Yes, I got the opportunity through Cricket West Indies to go to Bermuda to do some training for young coaches and upcoming players there. It’s an initiative that is going to continue between Cricket West Indies and the Bermuda Cricket Association. I’m looking forward to going back there if I get the opportunity again, but that’s a partnership that needs to happen. Not only between Bermuda and CWI but even the smaller associate teams, like Canada and the USA. As a board, we need to keep building partnerships with other associations.
One thing I’d like to see in the future is our youngsters getting a chance to play county cricket. We see a lot of players from New Zealand and Australia going over to do the hard yards in their domestic system. Have you ever seen a West Indian there?
It would be nice if CWI and the England and Wales Cricket Board could partner up and have an academy team go to England to play two-three weeks of county cricket, just play at a higher level.
Q: Some of your old colleagues are still kicking in the system. But for someone like Stafanie Taylor in particular, this must be a pretty special turn of events right to be at the cusp of another final?
Stafanie has so much history with the West Indies Women on her back. She started at a very young age, playing under Merissa Aguilleira, then leading us to a World Cup finals, and then now playing under the likes of Hayley Mathews. She’s been there and done that and is still going. She’s not the type of player who will walk off a field. She has to be at her lowest to step off the field. You can see those chubby cheeks light up when she’s watching the Windies play because that’s how much pride she holds in being able to turn up for this team. She still has that joy and passion for the game. I hope she’s able to get back on the field for the knockouts and do what Stafanie Taylor does best for West Indies cricket.
Q: Do you have a message for the side ahead of their big semifinal and a potential final?
There is a saying. What was, was and what was is, is. We won the tournament in 2016, yes. But this bunch has an opportunity to create history for themselves now. For their families, for the Caribbean. They have the chance to write their names in the history books. That feeling we had in 2016 after beating New Zealand, I can’t explain it and I don’t have to as these girls have the chance to experience it themselves.
It’s going to be a good game of cricket and whether the West Indies go to the final or not, the whole of the Caribbean wants to be proud of them. We always say that women cricketers are the pride of cricket in the West Indies.
Q: Finally, the T20 World Cup is set to expand. We see more teams coming into the fold but is that enough? What can individual boards and the ICC particularly do to grow the game more evenly across the spectrum?
I don’t think there’s enough cricket being played. We would love to see an exchange program. We see a lot of the country teams go to India and have their camps or go to New Zealand or Dubai and have their camps. We would love to see that spread around the world. You only see the top teams or the top 10 teams play against each other. Hopefully that changes and we see Scotland coming to the Caribbean to play. Hope we see New Zealand going to the USA. Teams don’t lose anything by playing lower-ranked teams. At the end of the day, all boards should look at developing women’s cricket, not just women’s cricket in their countries. If the global ecosystem improves, more investment comes in. The focus has to move beyond the top three or four.
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