Here’s the full transcript of Hayley Matthews’ press conference before the Australia vs West Indies clash 

[Reporter:]

So the big match coming up, so how is the team gearing up for it and what are your expectations going into the match tomorrow?  So how are you preparing for it and how excited are you to play in the semifinals? 

[Hayley Matthews:]

Yeah, we’re really excited as a group. We certainly feel like coming up against OZ, we have nothing to lose, and that puts us in a position where we can be quite fearless going out there. It’s obviously been quite a journey to get here, but I think as a team we’re really proud of probably the way we’ve played so far, but still know that we haven’t been at our best, which gives us a lot of confidence knowing that we can still get a lot better.

[Reporter:]

You are one of the 3 players who was— I mean, who were there at the Eden Gardens in 2016. Of course, that’s when West Indies won the World Cup. So do you think that that game you will look to, think about before going into this particular game? 

[Hayley Matthews:]

Slightly. That was 10 years ago and a much different group. I also think the game was a lot different at that time. I feel like if we want to look back on any match, we could probably look back at the one in 2023 when we were in Aus. Feel like at the Oval, conditions might be pretty similar. We saw the game that England played the other day at home nicely. The wicket was coming on and the par score we feel is certainly going to be a lot higher than it was so far in the competition. But yeah, like I said, for us there’s nothing to lose. And coming up against a team like Aus who we know has a bunch of great players and superstars, we’re going to have to have somebody stand out and do something special, but also have a lot of different people from the team contribute. But I think when you look in our dressing room, we have a lot of match winners. We also have a lot of players, I think, who’ve got a lot of potential to play some really big roles that are probably a bit more unknown as well too, which works for us. 

[Reporter:]

You’ve played Australia a lot recently at home and then in a warm-up match. What have you learned from those encounters with them?

[Hayley Matthews:]

You can’t take your foot off the gas at any point in time, I think, especially when you’re bowling. They seem to come hard from ball one and have a mantra where they just want to keep going. I certainly feel as though that keeps you in play a lot when it comes to having the opportunity to possibly take wickets. But you’re going to have to hold on to your chances for sure and understand that at some point in the game a partnership likely will build. They’ve got a lot of really good players. But it’s about trying to, I guess, control the flow of the runs as much as possible and just try to build as much pressure as possible. Like I said, they’re going to keep coming every single time and you’re just going to have to kind of look to defend and hold things together until you get that breakthrough, I think. 

[Reporter:]

I suppose, people will be looking at Australia, especially after yesterday, and saying that they’re on an extreme roll. Do you feel— you have to feel that you can stop them, of course, but what do you feel needs to be done in order to stop such a powerful team? 

[Hayley Matthews:]

Yeah, we’re going to need big performances from big players. I think we’re certainly going to need a standout individual performance, I believe. But I think to beat a team like Australia, you still need more than one player, and we’re going to have to have our best players really stepping up to the plate tomorrow. I feel like players like Aliyah Alleyne, Jahzara Claxton, they’ve been great role players throughout the tournament. And I think with our stars alongside players like them really playing massive roles, we’re going to have to put together an all-round game as a group. I think I said multiple times that we haven’t had our best match yet. We haven’t had the likes of myself or Deandra Dottin in the runs really—  And that leaves a lot of room for improvement for us as a team. So hopefully we can see some of us stepping up a bit more and taking it to the Aussies. 

[Reporter:]

Do you expect Chinelle will be fully fit to bowl? 

[Hayley Matthews:]

Yeah, hopefully. I think not training today, but I think that’s purely a matter of just giving her an opportunity to rest and recover. But yeah, hopefully we get the chance to see her out there rearing and ready for tomorrow. 

[Reporter:]

And can you just talk about Aliyah a little bit? Like, she’s had a really good World Cup and I guess flies under the radar sometimes. Has she been working on anything in particular, or what have you seen change or improve? 

[Hayley Matthews:]

Yeah, Aliyah, she’s been really good this World Cup, and I feel like she’s a player that certainly improved over the last 6 to 7 months or so, especially with the ball. She’s shown bright sparks in the past. I think last year when we were at the qualifiers in Pakistan, she took a 4-for. That was some amazing bowling regardless of the opposition. I think she’s someone who really tends to want to step up during the big opportunities and the big moments. She has been working, I guess, on some change-ups, which I think has been really valuable this tournament, especially with the wickets probably being a bit better. But yeah, she’s certainly someone who’s made a big difference this World Cup. I think especially in that first match against New Zealand where she was able to take those wickets. And we haven’t even gotten the opportunity, I think, to see her properly with the bat yet as well too, where I also feel that she can make a real difference.

[Reporter:]

And personally, do you feel a lot of pressure on yourself as a high-performing captain?

[Hayley Matthews:]

Somewhat, yes, but I don’t think that’s anything abnormal. I certainly feel like I As a captain and as one of the, I guess, more renowned players in the team, I feel like that pressure is probably a bit deserved and just means that I want to do really well and I want to perform really well. On a big occasion like this, the semi-finals— we got to the semis last year— and yeah, I think to take it one step further would mean a whole lot to us as a group. I know we’ve got some older girls within the team who are really passionate about taking it all the way this World Cup, and we certainly feel like— we’re not like a lot of the other teams where we’re guaranteed a semifinal spot every single World Cup, so we certainly want to make the most of it when we get this opportunity. So personally, I want to be able to play well to help the team, and although I’ve been going really well with the ball, I still know that the team needs me there with the bat, and I want to be able to step up and perform.

[Reporter:]

So you just spoke about how you all are going into this match knowing that you all have nothing to lose, given that there’s Australia of course in front of you all. How different is it to approach a game like this mentally when you’re playing with this kind of a freedom in that sense, and allows, say, so many players in your team who are such free-flowing players, batters. And does that change the way you all prepare for it, or mentally does that leave you in a different space? 

[Hayley Matthews:]

I don’t think it necessarily changes the preparation as much. I just feel like when we step out onto that field, everyone’s expecting us not to win in a sense. And when you go into a game with people probably looking at you thinking that if you do win, it’s going to be a surprise, you certainly feel like you said, that you can just go there, be free. And I almost feel like a bit more of the pressure is on a team like Australia who are going to be expected to beat us, and if they don’t, it’ll probably be a massive disappointment for them. So even though we have a lot of care and a lot of passion and we want to win, we’re certainly not expected to, I think, by the masses, and that eases, I think, a bit of the pressure off of our shoulders. When it comes to expectations, I think. 

[Reporter:]

You’ve just said, nobody expects us to win, or people don’t expect us to win. How does that feel knowing that— I mean, it’s not just because it’s Australia, maybe it’s also, because of maybe West Indies not qualifying, whatever it is. Does it irritate you that people don’t expect that?

[Hayley Matthews:]

I mean, realistically, I think if you look at our T20 performances probably this year – some of it might be down to the way we have performed and I guess the disappointing results we would have had in the Caribbean. But at the same time, I feel like we kind of show up almost every single time we come to a World Cup. And I don’t know what it is within the group, if it’s the passion or the drive, but I certainly feel like there is a sense of loving to prove people wrong and knowing that, yes, we have to prove ourselves over and over, but I think it drives a lot of our players, and we try to use it as motivation and use it as fuel to just want to play harder and want to prove ourselves every single time. 

[Reporter:]

Do you think that when, as you said, that when people are not expecting you to win, do you think that that can channelize— I mean, as you said, is the extra motivation— do you think that that can bring the best out of your players? Like, some of your players are yet, as you said, that you have— you are yet to have your perfect game. As a team? 

[Hayley Matthews:]

Yeah, certainly. As a group, I think we love to take on the fight when we step onto that field, and I know every single person is geared up. It certainly feels like it’s the games where people don’t expect as much from us. And then we obviously had the game against Ireland the other day where it was the complete opposite. We were probably expected to win a bit easier as well, and I don’t want to say choke, but we choked up a little bit. But yeah, I think there is an added fire to us when people think we can’t get the job done. And I’m not just saying that. I think I see it amongst the group and even within the huddle before we step out onto the field. You can always sort of feel a different sense of energy when it is that people are doubting us. And I think we just relish in that a lot of the time.

[Reporter:]

Did you have a look at yesterday’s game, India-Australia, and are you surprised that India is not there in the semifinals at all? 

[Hayley Matthews:]

Yeah, I did have a look at the match yesterday. Certainly a tough group that they were in. Obviously South Africa being a team that’s been in the last 3 World Cup finals now, and Australia being the number 1 ranked team, it was always going to be hard, I think, to pick 2 out of the 3 teams to go through. Unfortunate for India not to be there, but at the same time, one team had to be out, And yeah, South Africa played really good cricket, Australia played really good cricket, and yeah, I guess India didn’t get the cup for it.

[Reporter:]

Haley, so did losing to Ireland really affect you? Not yourself personally, but as a team, was it quite bad afterwards, or how did you reflect on it?

[Hayley Matthews:]

Yeah, as a group, I think we were just disappointed. We didn’t want to have to depend on results to get to the semifinals, and I certainly think for the few hours before England— or before the result between England and New Zealand, we all felt a kind of way that we didn’t want to. Disappointed, probably hurt, like we let ourselves down a bit. But once again, now that we’re through, I could probably say that maybe it’s a blessing in disguise a little bit that we got to experience what that felt like then and there, and use that once again to kind of drive us. It’s certainly something that we did when we got knocked out from the qualifiers back in 2025, and we kind of let that pain motivate us, not in the matches but through our training over the next few months. And yeah, I know we certainly don’t want to let ourselves down like that again. I keep going back to it, but we’re a very, very passionate group and we care a lot. And yeah, when we let ourselves down like that, it certainly doesn’t feel good. So we want to stop that from happening as much as possible. 

[Reporter:]

Hails, a couple of the younger players have stepped up in the group stage matches. Now that you’re coming up against Australia, you’re saying that the bigger, more experienced names have to really step up. But what are you telling the younger ones who have been performing as they’re about to face a juggernaut that is Australia?

[Hayley Matthews:]

Yeah, enjoy it. These are the moments that they can go out and have their best time ever. I think when I think about something like that, I go back to when we just played Australia in the Caribbean and Ashmini Munisar bowled her first ball at Ellyse Perry. She got a leading edge, she jumped in the air with one hand and caught it and did a full 100-meter sprint to the boundary. That’s what it’s all about,. They obviously are coming up against people who they saw, I guess, ruling the cricket world a bit when they were a bit younger now. And I know they look up to a few of those players, but at the same time, I know it’ll mean so much to them if they can come up against them and perform really well too. So they’re definitely going to be out there gunning for them, I hope. And our young players, they’re full of passion and drive as well, so I know they’ll use that to their best advantage. 

[Reporter:]

Do you think this is probably one of your better performing World Cups in terms of having more players step up to the crease, if you want to use it as that, to contribute to the team’s success in the tournament? 

[Hayley Matthews:]

100%. 100%. I keep going back to it. I haven’t made a 50. Deandra Dottin hasn’t gotten runs. Chinelle Henry’s got a 1 score. Stefanie Taylor hasn’t gotten a 50. And we’re winning games, and that’s probably something that we haven’t seen in a very, very, very long time. So the fact that we have other people, and it certainly feels like we have a team collective getting the job done rather than one or two players pulling the weight, and like I keep saying, it certainly means that we have so much better that we can get if we do see some of our bigger players step up. So I think it’s just about us going out there and actually executing it and getting the job done. But it certainly leaves a scope for a lot of belief for us. 

[Reporter:]

You had a really long knock on the net today. Do you think your game is tomorrow for you to really get that score and get the West Indies over the line? 

[Hayley Matthews:]

Yeah, hopefully. I feel like tomorrow is a really big occasion, and I know the team depends on me a lot at the top of the order to not only set the tone but control the innings as well. And I certainly feel that as a group we’re at our best when I’m flowing well and some of the other senior players are flowing well in the middle. So it would be really special if I could have a big innings tomorrow. But yeah, at the same time, not taking away that if I don’t score runs we can’t win. However, I think tomorrow is set up for the perfect occasion for me to step up to the plate, hopefully.