Bravo, Dwayne

Sat, May 8, '04

It is said that history repeats itself, however, for Dwayne Bravo, thankfully that old adage did not apply.

Last year, the Trinidadian Bravo opted out of the Shell Cricket Academy programme, on the advice of WICB officials who at the time said he had a good chance of being selected to the West Indies team. To his disappointment, Bravo was overlooked by the selectors for both the Australia and Sri Lanka series in 2003.

This year, while practising one day at Queen's Park Oval, he was again advised about the strong possibility of selection and was told to put his plans of going to play in the English leagues on hold. That he did and we know the rest. Dwayne John Bravo turned out on debut in West Indies colours for the 1st One Day International against England at Bourda.

The moment that a player hears of selection to play at the highest level is always memorable. For Bravo, it was like he was in a dream, literally. "My cell phone rang one morning while I was sleeping. A good friend of mine, Kenneth Hazel who used to play for Trinidad, called me and said the squad was on the screen and that I was selected," recalls Bravo. A couple of minutes later, he received a call from Charles Guillen who has been his mentor and coach, and he confirmed the news. Bravo went to the television set in his Santa Cruz home to see it for himself.

Bravo said he felt proud to see his name in the ODI squad. "It's something I've been working for and waiting on for the longest while. I thank God that I've finally achieved one of my goals".

On Sunday 18 April 2004, Bravo took the field in front of a full house at Bourda in Guyana. He said he was eager to go out there and see how he would perform under those conditions. Bravo added, "It was a good experience. Playing my first game at international level, I think I handled it well".

Not required to bat in the 30 over-per-side affair, Bravo was given the ball in the ninth over of England's innings. He went for six runs in his first over, but came back in his fourth to claim the scalp of Andrew Strauss and capture his first wicket in One Day International cricket. Bravo remembers it clearly. "It was with the first delivery after the drinks break that I bowled Strauss. Getting my first international wicket was a good achievement. I said 'that's the beginning of lots of wickets to come' ".

In St Lucia, after rain caused the one-day matches scheduled for Trinidad and Grenada to be abandoned, Bravo felt more comfortable with the crowd. "I said to myself that I should think of it as a normal game - a first-class game or a club game - and don't put myself under too much pressure".

Captain Lara gave him some advice. Bravo recalls him saying "when it's your turn to bat, just go out there, be smart, think the game, play simply, don't try to do too many things that you're not accustomed to doing and go out there and play positively". Bravo batted with the same ease as he did while chalking up 481 runs in this year's Carib Beer tournament.

He was not out in both St Lucia games, scoring 12 and 33. It was in the sixth ODI that West Indian fans were treated to a glimpse of what is to come from this young West Indian all-rounder. Dwayne Bravo came out to bat in the 34th over to join his captain with the score on 206 for 5. When Lara departed after a 38 run partnership, Bravo stayed at the crease with wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs to see West Indies through to a second consecutive victory over England.

Some described his innings as "mature", something unusual for a 20 year old with an appetite for scoring runs.

Currently, Bravo is involved in a mini-camp for some of the West Indies batsmen, which is being conducted by coach Gus Logie at the UWI cricket facilities in Barbados. He is not so presumptuous to think that he is a sure pick for the three ODI's against Bangladesh which start on 15 May in St Vincent, and will be working hard over the three days on his batting and fitness.

Unlike so many others before him who have failed to impress in their first series, Dwayne Bravo's performance was like a breath of fresh air. The West Indies all-rounder acknowledged the assistance given to him by his team mates, especially in his debut match. He said "Sars, Merv Dillon, Corey Collymore, Chris Gayle, they all kept talking to me while the game was going on saying they knew what I could do and that they believed in me and I was to go out there, relax, and do my thing".

Bravo isn't content to be an average player and says, "I'm looking forward to doing better things and moving on". For him, moving on means achieving his ultimate goal - representing the West Indies at Test level. If he continues to "do his thing" this defining moment in his cricket career will come sooner rather than later.