Mikyle Louis to make Test debut in inexperienced West Indies batting lineup

GEORGE DOBELL AT LORD'S: Louis, a 23-year-old with just seven first-class games behind him, will open the batting in the first Test of the series at Lord's, which starts on Wednesday

George Dobell | 09/07/2024 at 16:42

Mikyle Louis is set to become the first man from St Kitts to play Test cricket for West Indies.

Louis, a 23-year-old with just seven first-class games behind him, will open the batting in the first Test of the series at Lord's which starts on Wednesday. Joey Benjamin, the late fast bowler, was also born in St Kitts; he played a single Test for England.

While inexperienced – he only made his first-class debut in February – Louis has made an impressive start to his career. He made centuries in both innings of his second first-class match (against Guyana) and followed that with another century in his most recent first-class match (against Windward Islands).

He also scored 50 and 28 in the non-first-class warmup game on this tour for West Indies against a County Select XI. His brother, Jeremiah Louis, is also part of the squad.

But it means a man with less than six months' first-class cricket behind him will be doing battle with a man in his third decade of Test cricket when he faces James Anderson armed with the new ball.

"This last first-class season gone, he obviously did extremely well, but batted long as well," his captain, Kraigg Brathwaite said in announcing the side from Lord's on Tuesday. "He batted for a long period. He showed a lot of fight.

"He's a nice guy with a very joyful spirit. And I know he'll do extremely well, playing international cricket for many years."

While the only debutant in the team, Louis will form part of an unusually inexperienced West Indies top-order. Neither Kirk McKenzie, who is expected to bat at No.3 or Alick Athanaze, who will bat at No.4, have scored more than 50 at Test level while Kavem Hodge, at No.5, has a best of 72 in his two Tests to date.

It means Brathwaite, the other opener, is the only man in the top five with a Test century. Jason Holder, the former captain, will bat at No.6.

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^{King Charles met the West Indies squad on Saturday (Yui Mok/WPA Pool - Getty Images)}

"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, be the first [of this generation] to score 30 hundreds," Brathwaite said. "You got you got to think big; don't think too small. And I think he'll do extremely well.

"I think they're young and exciting. Kirk McKenzie got a few fifties in Australia, which was good, and Hodge got a nice 80 as well, which was good in Australia. And Alick got some confidence to show he can do it consistently. The more games they play the better, they have a lot of talent and we are fully 100% behind them.

"Every batter has a different style and one thing we urge is for guys to have their plans and back yourself."

The bowling attack, while only a little more experienced, does have a more reassuring look to it. Holder is clearly a vastly experienced cricketer while the likes of Jayden Seales and Alzarri Joseph have experienced of English conditions and Shamar Joseph underlined his potential during the win in Brisbane.

"It's a young group, especially the batsmen," Brathwaite admitted. "They have a lot of time to learn because obviously playing Test cricket it takes a while to really understand. You're always learning on the job, but it's a very decent team, for sure.

"Making sure we fight is very important. It's very crucial for us as a group. Obviously batting a whole day is always a positive and big partnerships, those key points for us are very important. Once we can do that it sets up test matches in a positive way."

West Indies XI: Kraigg Brathwaite, Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales

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