JAMAICA women’s cricket Captain Stafanie Taylor says the team is dedicating its dramatic regional Twenty20 (T20) title win to late former Coach Cleon Smith.

Smith, who died in May 2020, was head coach in 2018 when Jamaica’s women previously lifted the T20 crown.

“That’s something we definitely spoke about throughout this competition. We wanted to wear black armbands because he passed away, and we wanted to play hard cricket and dedicate this one to him,” Taylor said in a Cricket West Indies interview.

Jamaica and previous winners Barbados both closed the 2022 T20 Blaze with 16 points after identical records of four wins and a loss. But the Jamaicans clinched the winner’s trophy because of a superior net run rate of 2.170 to the Barbados team’s 1.428.

Trinidad and Tobago were third with 14 points, followed by hosts Guyana (10), Windward Islands (four), and last-placed Leeward Islands, who finished without a point.

Jamaica’s women have a rich history in the regional T20 tournament, winning four (2012, 2013, 2018, 2022) of the six editions since the first staging in 2012. They finished second in 2016 and 2019.

After the fourth and penultimate round of matches, during which they defeated Jamaica, the then unbeaten Barbadians had appeared on course to successfully defend their 2019 triumph. But they fell to a stunning defeat to Trinidad and Tobago in Tuesday’s fifth round, which opened the door for Taylor’s team ahead of their contest against the lowly Leewards.

Jamaica, coached by Shane Brooks, won by an emphatic 124 runs to significantly boost their net run rate. Natasha McLean struck a 54-ball 83, while Taylor made 56 off 51 balls in a total of 170-5. The Leeward Islands were limited to 46-3 from their allotted 20 overs.

“I thought [on Tuesday] we did a fantastic job; Natasha getting us to that total. We needed somebody to propel us, given what happened in the Barbados game. We were given another chance and we relished it,” Taylor said.

“The players looked hungry, we looked hungry. We really needed this because we’re not sure how many of us coming back next year. A lot of us [are] probably playing our last regionals and we wanted to give it our best shot, pretty much.

“I thought it was a good season — a bit disappointed in the middle there, especially against Barbados. Barbados posted 130-something runs and we had belief we could chase it down. They bowled really well, but we have good batters who never really stepped up to the plate,” she explained.

Taylor hailed the healthy competition between the two big rivals who pushed each other to the wire for yet another season.

“It’s always a rivalry between Jamaica and Barbados. If you look at the composition of the Barbados team and the composition of the Jamaica team, we’re both good teams, and anytime we go up against each other it’s always bragging rights. It’s always a good matchup,” she said.

— Sanjay Myers