Follow UsOn July 9 (Tuesday), West Indies announced their XI for the first Test against England at Lord's, with 20-year-old Mikyle Louis set to make his debut. Louis, therefore, will be the first cricketer from St. Kitts to play a Test for West Indies. However, there are other young guns in the squad, like Alick Athanaze, Kirk McKenzie, Kevam Hodge and others who do not have many games under their belt but have shown potential. West Indies skipper Kragg Brathwaite's advice to them: You got to think big.
"My advice to all the younger boys in the group, like Mikyle making his debut, is don't just expect to play for West Indies, expect to be the first to score 30 hundreds. You got to think big, you know. Don't think too small," Brathwaite said ahead of the Lord's Test.
"We have our plans, so believe in your plan. And enjoy it as well. Because it's always a great series playing here in England. And we truly look forward to it."
While the win over Australia at the Gabba earlier this year was a superb achievement, given that the hosts had lost just once at the venue since 1988, was a stupendous achievement, Brathwaite says that the match is now history and the West Indies need to look ahead now. "It was a big positive for us to get a win because it shows that we could get the job done," Brathwaite said.
"Obviously, the key for us as a group is to do it consistently. We could take a lot of stuff from that game as batsmen because we had some important partnerships. Then, the bowlers were outstanding. Shamar [Joseph] was the star. But pretty much all the bowlers put in a very good effort, and we caught well as well.
"But it's history, it's gone. We got to look forward to this, then the other Test matches in this series, but it at least gives a start that we could get the job done. We've just got to believe in ourselves."
West Indies have not won a series in England since 1988, the last time they won at Lord's. However, they have won two of their last five Tests in the country, which they could perhaps draw inspiration from as they look to spoil James Anderson's farewell Test.
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