Kevin Sinclair - somersaulting one challenge at a time

What’s your first memory of Kevin Sinclair? 

Chances are that it is his celebration. A vividly dramatic somersault where it almost feels like he’s going to sprain something at any point. That’s Sinclair’s idiosyncrasy that has gone viral in the past few days leading up to his Test debut. 

Sinclair’s primary skill, of course, is his off-spin. His ability to get the ball to turn past the left-hander and turn into the right-hander sharply has earned him a Test cap, but his batting often goes unnoticed. 

In 21 First-Class matches prior to his Test debut, Sinclair has scored 976 runs, averaging a high 31.48, and has shown the immense ability to bat long, with the eight half-centuries a testament to his batting talent. Just a few months before his Test debut, in November 2023, Sinclair played a freakish knock, one that saved the West Indies A’s backside. 

At 119/7, with 105 runs to win, Sinclair himself scored 80 runs and, in the process, put on a one-man show in Benoni, where he smacked eight fours and three sixes. He even has a high score 86 in First-Class cricket, showing his worth as a batter. 

But batting against Australia in a pink-ball Test? 

There are challenges, there are tough challenges, and then there is this: taking on the Australian pacer in a pink-ball Test. Sinclair chose to announce himself in fine fashion. Sinclair’s journey to Gabba is quite a fascinating one. 

He’s played enough in the white-ball formats for people to take note of his name, but the background story is quite a tale. Walking in at No.8, at 213/6, Sinclair had quite a tough job batting in twilight. 

In case you were wondering, it is the toughest time for a batter in a day-night Test, where the ball keeps swerving, putting the batters in a spot of bother. But not Sinclair, not on his Test debut where the stage was set for him. 

Never, not at any point in the innings, did the debutant look troubled at the crease, forging two crucial partnerships - one with the adventurous Alzarri Joseph and the other with the cautious Kemar Roach. While the right-hander got it easier facing Nathan Lyon up front, he looked at ease when he played the ball between third slip and gully off Josh Hazlewood’s bowling. 

Later, he showed the full face of the bat with a stunning drive through the cover against the pink-ball monster, Mitchell Starc.

🚨 ATTENTION PHOTOGRAPHERS! 🚨

Lovely from Kevin Sinclair #AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/qwtZ39EWxr

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 25, 2024

Drive, guide, sweep, name it, and Sinclair’s debut had it all. 

The all-rounder’s game has always been about style and substance, and it was quite fitting that he got to his half-century, walking down the track to take Lyon. Fifty in style. 

But Sinclair’s backstory is quite a fascinating one. Growing up in the poorest of neighbourhoods in the Berbice region, Sinclair’s coach and a pillar of strength was his grandfather, Carlton, who took the exuberant youngster under his wing. 

Sinclair spent much of his childhood in a wooden shack with no real bed to sleep on. Not just that, the off-spinner also didn’t have the privilege of food early on in his career, where he had to depend on the canteen lady to feed him. 

All those training sessions with Carlton on the tarpaulin against a skiddy tennis ball have now come to fruition, having aced the Australian challenge on a pacy Gabba wicket. Sinclair’s flair is just starting, and there are chances that he could end this Test with a lot more somersaults.