Belief is a funny concept in Chinelle Henry’s life. All along, her own confidence has played catch-up with the faith others place in her. Her recent exploits with the bat in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) are no different.
Representing the UP Warriorz, the Jamaican had the backing of her squad when she was sent out to steady a wobbly batting innings in both games against Delhi Capitals. In the first fixture in Vadodara, Henry – making her WPL debut – struck a smooth unbeaten 33 to get the Warriorz to 166/7. Shoddy fielding cost the Warriorz that game, despite taking it to the very last over.
Her next game was the reverse fixture against DC, this time in Bengaluru. Henry walked in to bat at a time when her side was in deep trouble at 89/6 in the 14th over.
“At the break, when we had a timeout, the coach (Jon Lewis) came out and said, ‘We’re not going to win the game if we score 120.’ So we definitely have to find a way,” Henry told Sportstar in a chat after the game.
“He turned to me and said, ‘This is your role. You know how to play it and you do it well. So just go out and enjoy yourself and give the team a fighting chance.’ I just stepped into it and did what he asked.”
The result was the joint-fastest fifty in the history of the WPL (18 balls) – a 23-ball blinder where she finished with 62 runs to her name. With a massive smile on her face and an ecstatic batting partner in Sophie Ecclestone behind her, Henry signalled to the Warriorz dugout to stand and applaud her. Her teammates followed suit as she bowed down, the entertainer that she is!
“I guess, it’s just the West Indies way, especially in T20s. We’re just going to go out and put on a show, it doesn’t matter if we win, lose, draw or whatever the result is. We’re going to go out, be confident and put some respect back to the names of West Indies in cricket,” she would say later.
Henry’s role has been similar with the national side too. Despite the frustrating game of musical chairs in the coaching department, a fairly consistent messaging for her has been to get going from the first ball.
She did so not just in the WPL, but she also recorded two incredible knocks in the Windies colours against India – a 16-ball 43 in the third T20I in Navi Mumbai and a sublime 72-ball 61 in the third ODI in Vadodara.
“When I look back, this is what everybody told me years ago that I was capable of doing. If you’d listen to commentary whenever I walk to the crease or the questions asked of me in interviews, it’s always been about this ability. I guess what’s changed is confidence in the fact that this is why I’m here.”
Getting perspective
Feeling is believing. For Henry, a successful Ireland series in 2023, where she scored a clinical 53 to seal the series with Stafanie Taylor for company, was an eye-opener.
“I had just come back from shoulder surgery. The coaches then asked me to take it easy and slowly get back to normalcy. But a part of me thought this is all just an excuse. The injury, the surgery.. My playing style doesn’t and shouldn’t change so why should my confidence? That innings really cemented some core stuff for me,” she recollected.
But inconsistency made life hard.
“Before the T20 World Cup, we lost an ODI series against Sri Lanka. I was in a very bad place. The team needed me to perform and I was nowhere to be found. I started judging myself, questioning my ability. Everything was just going downhill.
“There was a camp soon after the World Cup. The coaching staff pushed me to take a break and reset. I slowed things down and the one thing I internalised then was that mistakes are going to happen. Our careers are going to have ups and downs. But to just sit there and hammer yourself into thinking you’re not good enough isn’t helpful.
Chinelle has been an asset with both bat and ball for UP Warriorz.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Chinelle has been an asset with both bat and ball for UP Warriorz.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
“The World Cup came and I had a good tournament, chipped in with a few performances that really helped the team. Even in India, a few of my performances were quite good too. I picked up an injury during the India tour too which forced me out of the Bangladesh series played in Nebraska. I’m clear about not using things as excuses for why I can’t perform or do certain things.”
Bold choices
Henry is someone who is happy to make the best of what life throws at her and her WPL stint too came about in funny ways.
“When I was in Jamaica rehabbing – just doing my training keeping the qualifiers we have in April in mind, my agent called me and said RCB had reached out to us to rope me in as a replacement for Sophie Devine. I sent across my information and everything and suddenly found out that UP Warriorz had already sent my details to the BCCI to bring me in for Alyssa Healy.
“At that point, it was all so hush-hush. Warriorz hadn’t yet announced the injury to Healy. So I didn’t know who I was going to be replacing. When I found out it was her, I was like, ‘Whoa! Of all the people in the world!’ We don’t do the same thing, she’s an opener, she’s captain, she’s wicketkeeper. We have enough and many openers.
The management was straight with me and said they needed someone to steady the backend. Replacing Alyssa is a heavy thing on the shoulders. I kept thinking I have to perform or people will eat me alive. The shoes I had to fill overwhelmed me. The girls here really made me feel at home. We had a practice game before the season began and I settled in nicely. Chamari (Athapaththu) killed any nerves I had by saying, ‘I also came as a replacement and look they’ve retained me.’”
An illness ruled her out of the first game for the Warriorz.
“I had to force myself to train. I was really struggling, but I reassured the coach that I was around to be there for the team. I never had such nerves even in my international career. I’ve never had to do my thing in front of so many people. Jon just said, ‘It’s India. Entertain, entertain, entertain.’
From the track to the skies
Henry’s father had other dreams for his daughter. He pictured her setting the athletics track on fire.
“I could really run back in the day and my dad took me to one of the best track schools in Jamaica. One fine day, I got up and was like, ‘This is not for me. I don’t want to do this.’
“I just wanted to play cricket. I was happiest chasing cricket balls. My dad eventually gave in to what made me happy. He supported me fully. When he’d pick me up from school and watch me play cricket, he’d often be furious but kept asking if I was sure this was what I wanted to do.
“When I left high school and began college, I made the first team. He was pleasantly surprised that I actually did it. I knew there was a long way for me to go. When I was out of the team for a while, I was straight with him that if this didn’t work out, I would get a real job.
Chinelle Henry UP Warriorz play a shot during match 9 of the Women’s Premier League 2025 (WPL) between The Royal Challengers Bangalore and The UP Warriorz held at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, India on the 24th February 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Sportzpics for WPL
Chinelle Henry UP Warriorz play a shot during match 9 of the Women’s Premier League 2025 (WPL) between The Royal Challengers Bangalore and The UP Warriorz held at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, India on the 24th February 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Sportzpics for WPL
“Most of the time, both my parents didn’t see eye to eye when it came to me going off on the weekends, playing cricket with the boys bowling at me, always getting hurt. I played a lot of boy cricket in Jamaica. There was no female cricket. I’m grateful that they took the chance, and I could be here today, making them proud just watching me play.”
Henry’s father couldn’t catch her blitz against the Capitals.
“He called me and said he saw the highlights. He was over the moon. He asked me when I was playing next and he promised to take an hour to watch me. He’s always in my corner now and I’m so thankful for that.”
That game was the one against RCB which saw the league’s first-ever Super Over. Henry not only bowled a commendable four overs in the regulation innings, but was also entrusted with the scoring in the Super Over. A team effort led by Ecclestone handed the Warriorz a famous win.
For Henry, the pieces are all falling into place. She is rarely without a smile on her face, she has a team filled with characters that make a game she loves more enjoyable and she is keen to make hay when the sun shines.
“The last two years of my life have been the best of my career and I am just 29. I want to hit sixes…A lot of girls around the ground said they wanted to be able to hit sixes like me and that inspired me first. I want that feeling till it’s my time to stop.”