The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket

Kohli, Hussey and Fortnite: The inspirations behind Leonardo Julien

Fri, Jan 31, '20

 

WI U-19

When Leonardo Julien, the West Indies U-19 wicketkeeper-batsman was growing up, he would play backyard cricket with his two brothers. But they wouldn't go easy on young Leonardo, who was the youngest of the trio. The brothers would bowl at him with the hard rubber ball, and one day a delivery hit him so hard that he remembers throwing his bat away and running back into his house.

"Come back", Julien remembers his father shouting at him. "Only babies cry."

It was at that very moment that Julien's perspective as a cricketer changed.

"That incident toughened me up," Julien tells ESPNcricinfo. "After that, I realised I need to be stronger. I developed my game such that no one could beat me for pace moving on. No one could make me cry."

Read more at ESPNcricinfo