As the West Indies prepare for a full tour of Bangladesh there are three players, at most, who are likely to be involved in all three formats; one of which is Guyanese right arm seamer—Keemo Paul. Paul made his international debut in March earlier this year, when he was called up to the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier squad to replace the injured Sheldon Cottrell in Zimbabwe. In the span of nine months, as regularly happens in sports, things have progressed at lightning speed for the twenty-year-old.
The incident in the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh back in 2016—in a must-win group game, when Paul mankaded Zimbabwe’s Richard Ngarava—would be the earliest memory most have of the young Guyanese. It was an action which sparked a worldwide ‘spirit of the game’ debate. So much so that England’s limited overs captain, Eoin Morgan, accused Paul of “disgraceful behaviour” saying the West Indies should be “embarrassed”. As fate would have it though, Paul was to make his international debut in front of a Zimbabwean crowd with a long memory, but the best thing about Keemo Paul? He has no chill. Every single one of his run-ups were jeered in Harare, but the Guyanese was still to claim a wicket with his first legal delivery of international cricket.
Jason Holder’s men, of course, went on to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, despite losing the Qualifier final to Afghanistan. Paul made himself a regular in the team, playing the four games for which he was in Zimbabwe, claiming five wickets with an economy of 3.72. His rise on the international stage was to continue, as he was named in the T20I squad to Pakistan the following month where his services were again warranted throughout the series.
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Despite some success with the ball, Paul has only recently started to focus on his batting talent again. He is rather slight of built, and does not seem physically suited to bowling very fast for any prolonged period. The strain of fast bowling has already taken its toll on him, which caused him to have to slow down to about 125k at the beginning of the India tour. True, he was back up to around 135k by the end of the tour, but he missed more than half the matches.
Compared to Sam Curran of England, who plays a similar role as a bowler but whose batting for England has blossomed wonderfully, Paul's batting has not progressed since representing WI in the Under-19 World Cup. Paul was much better a batsman than Sam Curran then, but definitely no longer so at this point.
Paul needs to re-focus and become a dependable batsman who can bowl useful spells of seam bowling. As a batsman he is capable of sound defense and lusty hitting, but seems to not take his own batting seriously.
Anyway, good luck to him, and let's hope he stays fit, despite his usually significant bowling workload.
If kemo paul doesn't come out to be that raging allrounder that balances up to ben stokes proportions then i will be disappointed in these selectors
In reply to Raggs
If kemo paul doesn't come out to be that raging allrounder that balances up to ben stokes proportions then i will be disappointed in Kemo Paul.
Did Dukes write that article?
I think he's not progressed where's the 5 wicket haul?
In reply to LBW375
f kemo paul doesn't come out to be that raging allrounder that balances up to ben stokes proportions then i will be disappointed in Kemo Paul
ok bro 1 - nil to you.
In reply to Norm
Compared to Sam Curran of England, who plays a similar role as a bowler but whose batting for England has blossomed wonderfully, Paul's batting has not progressed since representing WI in the Under-19 World Cup. Paul was much better a batsman than Sam Curran then, but definitely no longer so at this point.
This is not a one-off case, but more of the norm (i.e. Our young cricketers being as good or better than future international stars at U19 level, only for them to be eclipsed after the U19 level).
Keeping the development going from ages 20 to 24 is vital and should be looked at with as much emphasis as U19 and U15 level.
