Windies star to lead Renegades in WBBL|09

Hayley Matthews will lead the Melbourne Renegades this season, stepping into the role after captain Sophie Molineux was ruled out of the entire season as she continues to recover from a serious knee injury.

Matthews, who was picked up in the draft and will spend a second straight year with the Renegades, filled in for Molineux after she tore her ACL during WBBL|08 last November.

The West Indies skipper was given the nod ahead of a plethora of other leadership candidates in the Renegades squad, including India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Welsh Fire captain Tammy Beaumont.

"Hayley captained our team after Soph got injured last year and did a great job, the girls have great respect for her," Renegades coach Simon Helmot told cricket.com.au. 

"She's captain of West Indies and is at the height of her powers at the moment, both as a player but also in leadership. 

"To have her, with the experience of Jess Duffin, Harmanpreet Kaur and our vice-captain Georgia Wareham, it's a real positive for us. 

"Hayley is really invested in our club, she had a fantastic time last year and she wants to see us become more successful."

Matthews has been on a tear in T20 cricket of late, winning player-of-the-match honours in her last eight matches.

She struck a record-breaking 310 runs across three matches against Australia earlier this month, including a match-winning 132 in the second game at North Sydney Oval.

In her last seven T20Is since March, a run that also includes a three-game series against Ireland, and T20 World Cup games against Pakistan and Ireland, Matthews has scored 452 runs at 90.4 and striking at 138.22.

With the ball she has taken 15 wickets at 10.6 while maintaining an economy rate of 6.11.

Between those performances, Matthews was also crowned player of the tournament at the inaugural Women’s Premier League in March, and starred with bat and ball as she led Barbados Royals to the Caribbean Premier League title last month.

The 25-year-old, who took over the Windies captaincy last June, says the job has played a major role in her career-best form.

"Honestly, the leadership of the team has definitely helped me to take responsibility of my game," she said.

"That along with just learning and understanding my game a lot more from playing so much franchise and T20 cricket around the world.

"The two of those put together over the last 12 months have really helped not only with me scoring runs but scoring them consistently as well."

The Renegades will launch their WBBL|09 campaign against Brisbane Heat at Junction Oval on Friday.

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