West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor and legspinner Afy Fletcher have been named captains of NLCB Revellers and Courts Gladiators respectively, the two sides that will contest women’s T10 exhibition matches in the lead-up to the final two CPL games of the season on October 10 and 12 in Trinidad.

Taylor is set to captain the Revellers, which will feature players from Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Leeward Islands, which has internationals Anisa Mohammad, Stacy-Ann King and Britney Cooper in the mix. Fletcher will lead the Gladiators, which will have players from Barbados, Guyana and Windward Islands and features Hayley Mathews, Kycia Knight and Kyshona Knight among others. The notable absentee from the squads is allrounder Deandra Dottin, who had been missing from West Indies’ T20I squad to face Australia in September as she was still recovering from an injury.

“It is very pleasing to have an initiative such as this that the CPL has done for Women’s cricket in the Caribbean,” Taylor said. “It’s a long time coming to potentially have a women’s T20 franchise tournament here in the West Indies, bringing international players here to our conditions and pitches, just as we go to their leagues. No doubt this will aid Cricket West Indies in growing women’s cricket in the region.”

The two matches will take place before the second qualifier and final of this season’s CPL, and ticket holders for those matches will be able to attend the women’s games at no extra cost at the Brian Lara Stadium, according to a media release.

“Women’s cricket is rapidly growing so kudos to the persons for taking the initiative to find different avenues to expose the talent of the ladies of the Caribbean,” Fletcher said. “Knowing that we have a small pool of female cricketers, I strongly believe that this is a stepping stone to move forward and also a way of attracting the eyes of the young girls across the region.”

NLCB Revellers squad: Stafanie Taylor (capt), Anisa Mohammed, Chinelle Henry, Natasha McLean, Chedean Nation, Jodian Morgan, Stacy-Ann King, Reniece Boyce, Britney Cooper, Felicia Walters, Karishma Ramharack, Caneisha Isaac, Shawnisha Hector

Courts Gladiators squad: Afy Fletcher (capt), Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Hayley Matthews, Aaliyah Alleyne, Qiana Joseph, Akeira Peters, Erva Giddings, Shabika Gajnabi, Kaysia Schultz, Cherry-Ann Fraser, Sheneta Grimmond, Shakera Selman.