Leading from the front: Barbados captain Aaliyah Alleyne targets positive Super50 campaign with eyes on upcoming World Cup qualifiers

By Sherdon Cowan- As the Barbados women’s cricket team takes on the challenge of the CG United Women’s Super50 Cup in St. Kitts, captain Aaliyah Alleyne finds herself at a pivotal point in her career.

Once a promising footballer, Alleyne seamlessly transitioned into cricket and made her West Indies women’s debut in 2019, and she has not looked back since.

The 30-year-old, now tasked with leading Barbados in the absence of seasoned stars Hayley Matthews and Deandra Dottin, embraces the responsibility, as she also has her sights set on an even bigger goal—the opportunity to represent the West Indies at the upcoming ICC Women’s 50-over World Cup qualifiers in Pakistan this April, and possibly the global showpiece itself to be hosted in India.

Alleyne admits that if someone had told her before now that she would be captaining the Barbados women’s cricket team, she probably would have shot down the idea.

“To be quite honest, if you had told me probably as an 18-year-old that I would be playing cricket now, I would have probably laughed because my love and heart were always with football. But you know how things go; you have a plan, and the Lord laughs,” Alleyne said during a virtual media interaction on Tuesday.

Still, one of Alleyne’s biggest concerns is the lack of sufficient domestic and international cricket for women in the Caribbean. Comparing the regional structure to powerhouse nations like Australia and England, she points out the stark differences.

“I think we are far behind. When you look at England and Australia, they have a structured grassroots programme leading right up to their senior teams. By the time a player debuts internationally, they’ve already gained significant experience. We don’t have that luxury,” Alleyne reasoned.

“I think we split the tournament now into two (Super50 Cup and T20 bash), but I think we still need to play a lot more. If we play a lot more games, I think we are better off, and I think that experience too would help our youth along the way so they would be better prepared when they do get their opportunity at the highest level,” she added. (Sportsmax)