West Indies women’s captain Hayley Matthews was disappointed that she was not able to participate and show off her skills in the ongoing Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) due to an injury she sustained in England in the Women’s Hundred.

In an interview on the WCPL broadcast recently, Matthews explained her injury. “Unfortunately, I’ve torn the shoulder socket,” she said. “I am going to have surgery next week and get that all fixed and repaired. Probably not what I wanted, but I just had a bit of a fall over in England.”

Matthews recovery will see her sidelined for a significant period.

“They gave me about 9 to 12 weeks or so, which would put me to about December,” Matthews said. “So, some good time, I guess, to get the body right for the end of the year and get back ready for a really big 2026.”

Despite the disappointment, Matthews displayed a remarkably positive perspective.

“This is my first, I guess, major injury since my career started about 10 or 11 years ago. So, I am quite thankful for that. I know that is a pretty fortunate place to be in.”

“I’ve been going for a very long time and playing a lot of high-level international and franchise cricket, so the body probably does need a bit of a rest. And I guess it’s good that it’s come about in a time where we don’t have too much on at the end of the year as well.”

The Barbados Royals will definitely miss Matthews, as her performances have been instrumental in the Royals’ back-to-back title-winning campaigns in 2023 and 2024.

She currently tops the tournament charts as both the leading run-scorer, with 424 runs, and the leading wicket-taker, with 23 scalps at an economical 5.79 runs per over.

Matthews earned Player of the Match in the 2023 final, smashing 82 from 59 balls and taking two wickets against the Guyana Amazon Warriors. It was followed by being named Player of the Series for the entire 2024 season.