Matthews' bold declaration about her West Indies future

Hayley Matthews isn't going anywhere. And she suspects her veteran teammates won't be either.

The West Indies fell two wins short in their bid to match the efforts of their 2016 counterparts and claim the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, suffering an eight-wicket defeat at the hands of Australia in their semi-final showdown at The Oval.

But when asked post-game about her future at international level, her response was reasonably emphatic.

"I want to still play for West Indies, there's no doubt about that," she told media.

"I always feel like West Indies has given me the opportunity to represent myself, to be a part of franchise cricket. And it might be the most stressful thing and probably one of the harder jobs around, but it's where the passion comes from.

"I certainly feel personally that I have a real opportunity to not only represent myself but to make a difference. I've seen so many young girls in the Caribbean already probably want to play cricket or take up cricket because of me, and knowing that I have that power and I guess that influence in a country and in a region where women's cricket and women's sports on a whole probably isn't represented massively, hopefully if I could just inspire a few young ladies or a few more young ladies to take up the game."

Matthews is confident fellow high profile veterans Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin are staying the course with this West Indies side as well.

"I haven't necessarily heard any of (Stafanie or Deandra) talking about retirement yet, thankfully," Matthews continued.

"I think there's still a lot of passion from them to play. I think what's most important for them is just a healthy team environment, and, I think right now the passion that we have within the group has driven a lot of them.

"I think the fresh faces that we have within the young girls and the way that they've come into the team and have exhibited the want to learn definitely makes them feel like they can play a massive role, like it has made me. And hopefully that combination of the young new players alongside Stef and Deandra and Afy (Fletcher) can keep them driven to understand that their role is so much bigger than just going out and batting and bowling as well."

West Indies' loss to the Aussies marked three straight defeats at the T20 World Cup. They still snuck into the semi-finals, but finished the group stage with losses to England and Ireland.

Matthews blames the harsh reality that there were not enough heroics from any individuals at crucial stages.

"For the entire tournament, I feel that we haven't had too many individual standout performances," she continued.

"I think we had Shemaine (Campbelle) in that first game alongside Aaliyah (Alleyne). We had Chinelle (Henry) score 50 in that match against England. But I think when we look overall as a group, we haven't had enough players really put their hands up and take control of a game.

"And in T20 cricket, you always need someone stepping up and putting down good performances. And I think that's probably what we lack, not only today but the entire tournament."