Twenty20 leagues have transformed women's cricket from a sport that once relied on public support for survival into an appealing spectacle, according to West Indies white-ball captain Hayley Matthews.
The allrounder, who shot to fame in the West Indies' 2016 T20 World Cup triumph, said T20 leagues like the Women's Premier League (WPL) in India have fostered global exposure and helped develop the women's game.
"I feel like once upon a time, women's cricket was probably like, 'Come and watch the game to support the women,' whereas now I feel like we have a product that's entertaining and we have these skills that people want to see us play cricket," Matthews told Reuters.
"I think just getting the opportunity to play these leagues and have all the games televised and have people watching and supporting is naturally going to help the game to grow.
"There's plenty of opportunities for women to grow in cricket and I think competitions like the WPL give a platform for the game to grow. It introduces people to the game... shows the level of skill that we have in women's cricket."
Matthews has claimed the joint most wickets (14) in the ongoing WPL season alongside Mumbai Indians teammate Amelia Kerr.
Mumbai will compete in the WPL eliminator against Gujarat Giants on Thursday after they were denied top spot in the table following their 11-run defeat by Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Monday.
"I feel like ourselves along with DC (Delhi) are ready to look at these setups (playoffs). We have a really good balance of international players as well as the local Indian players too," Matthews said.
"We get contributions from so many different participants in the team like Nat (Sciver-Brunt), Melie (Amelia Kerr), Shab (Shabnim Ismail), myself, being able to step up as internationals.
"When you look at a captain like Harmanpreet (Kaur), even the young players, like Sanskriti Gupta that have come in this year, have been able to make massive impacts."
Matthews also harbours ambitions of leading the West Indies to a World Cup triumph, which they narrowly missed last year after an eight-run defeat to New Zealand in the T20 World Cup semifinal.
But the 26-year-old has her sights firmly set on test cricket with West Indies set to mark their return to the red-ball format.
West Indies, who made their red-ball debut in 1976 and played their last test in 2004 against Pakistan, will host Australia in a one-off test next year.
Their return to test cricket will then continue with a home series against England in 2027, their first encounter since 1979, followed by an away test in South Africa in 2028.
"I feel test cricket is the pinnacle of cricket. It's called test cricket for a reason. It's a very challenging format of the game," Matthews said.
"I can't wait for the opportunity to go there and put on some whites and experience what that format is like."
