Acover drive from West Indies’ Alick Athanaze pierces the gap between the boundary boards and a young boy fields the ball just behind them. He throws it back to the field, and his friends surround him with hugs and cheers as if he’s just taken a match-winning catch. There may not have been a lot of sunshine at Beckenham County Cricket Ground, but there was plenty of warmth.
West Indies’ first and only warm- up match of their England tour attracted a delighted crowd, and their batters certainly seemed to enjoy the atmosphere, posting 339 against a First Class Counties Select XI, who reached the close 15 without loss in reply. In these days of strangulated scheduling, this three-day game represents vital batting practice for the tourists before the opening Test against England at Lord’s next Wednesday.
While the captain, Kraigg Brathwaite, missed out – he lasted just eight balls before edging Josh Turner behind for four – there were runs for Athanaze, Kirk McKenzie, and a century for Kavem Hodge who scored 112 off 128 balls before top-edging a short ball from John Turner.
Mikyle Louis, meanwhile, may well have played his way into the vacant opening spot opposite Brathwaite thanks to a half-century off 63 balls. It included 16 off one of Josh Hull’s overs – a four and two sixes – and if Louis does make his debut at Lord’s the 23-year-old will be the first Test player to come from St Kitts.
But there was more value in this game than the chance to adjust to English conditions. It was also a well-planned opportunity to re- engage traditionally cricket-loving Caribbean communities in south-east London. Asher Roberts came to his post as development officer at Kent after coaching Catford and Cyphers CC and has been planning this Rally Round the West Indies event for the past six months. “Everything right now shows that there is a demand for cricket in the south-east, and London itself,” he says.
