From selling bananas to seeing the King

LONDON (CMC):

ROOKIE OPENER Mikyle Louis said he was elated by his fairy-tale rise to the international ranks after shooting from obscurity into the final XI for the opening Test against England at Lord’s which the West Indies lost by an innings and 114 runs on Friday.

One year ago, the 23-year-old was virtually unheard of in West Indies cricket and was actually helping his parents sell bananas on a farm in his native St Kitts.

But after a maiden First-Class season this year that saw him gather a championship-leading 682 runs at an average of 48 for Leeward Islands Hurricanes, Louis was catapulted into the West Indies squad for the three-Test tour of England, becoming the first-ever cricketer from St Kitts to play Test cricket.

And the right-hander said he was not overawed by the occasion, stressing that he was focused on “trusting his skills” and hoping that this principle continued to produce results.

“Leading up to the First-Class season, I was a little nervous because I was wondering if I was good enough to represent the Leeward Islands,” Louis told a media huddle.

“And I really went out there and believed in my skills because these are the skills I’d been working really hard on.

“And it’s the same thing now – I won’t be thinking about if I’m good enough. I’ll just go out there – I know I’ve been working – and just trust my skills to take me forward.”

He continued: “It’s been a long journey. I worked really hard leading up to this. Obviously, I’m elated. I’m happy to be here.

“The Kittitian people are really happy. They’ve reached out to me on numerous occasions. They feel really proud that I’ve been selected.”

Louis got starts, scoring 27 and 14 in that first Test at Lord’s.

He was done in by England captain Ben Stokes, who had him caught by Harry Brook in the first innings and caught behind in the second.

Louis featured for West Indies Under-19s seven years ago without much success before disappearing from the radar.

He reappeared this year and made a massive impact, scoring a half-century on First-Class debut and then notching a hundred in each innings of his second First-Class game.

Louis carved out another triple-figure score and four more fifties to end the campaign in the same vein in which he started.

“What worked for me in the First-Class season was my work ethic,” he explained.

“I was training really hard and I wasn’t leaving anything to chance. I was putting in the effort in the gym and in practice. I’m doing the same thing here, so I’m hoping for the same results.”

Louis opened alongside captain and veteran right-hander Kraigg Brathwaite, who played the 90th Test of a stellar career.

And Louis said the 31-year-old, who made his debut as an 18-year-old – ironically, in St Kitts – had been a great source of advice.

“From since the first day I arrived, me and him have been having long conversations because he’s somebody I look up to, and he’s somebody I really respect because of what he has done for West Indies cricket,” Louis said.

“I’ve been asking him many questions, and he’s been like an open book to me, so we’ve had many discussions and conversations.”

Louis, along with the West Indies squad, were hosted at Buckingham Palace by King Charles III, an experience Louis said underscored his fairy-tale rise.

“It was good fun. It was a great experience for me, for somebody who a year ago was helping out my parents selling bananas on a farm, and so forth, to meeting the King now,” he said.

“That was really great for me. The King, he was in good spirits. I was a little shocked that he was such a jovial person. That was good for me.”