BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – Bowling coach Roddy Estwick believes Twenty20 specialist Kesrick Williams could have a future beyond the game’s shortest format.
The 27-year-old seamer has emerged as a key cog in the West Indies attack over the last year and has proved a revelation in his seven matches to date.
“I’m really happy for Kesrick. He’s someone who works very, very hard at his game, has a lot of variations and is improving all the time,” Estwick said.
“Since he came in this side in Dubai he’s done wonderfully well and he must continue now to keep working hard and keep improving and see if he can get to the longer format of the game.”
The Vincentian impressed on debut against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi last year and extended his form into the four-match series when Pakisten toured the Caribbean recently.
He has been one of the leading bowlers in the ongoing series against Afghanistan, picking up two wickets in the opening game last Friday and three in Saturday’s contest to earn Man-of-the-Match honours.
While Williams has had limited success at the Regional first class and limited overs level, Estwick said there were several aspects to Williams’s game that made him an exciting prospect.
“He’s got a change of pace. He can get up to 85, 87 miles per hour and he can also come down to 60 so the batsmen really can’t set themselves because they’re not sure what’s coming,” Estwick explained.
“And he’s got a good short ball as well so he’s got all the tools for T20 cricket and it’s now important we keep working with him and get him up to the 50-over game and see if we can go beyond.”
West Indies have dominated the Afghans to take a 2-0 lead in the series and will chase a clean sweep later Monday when they clash in the final game of the series at Warner Park here.
While not entirely convincing in the opening game, they chased down 110 to win by six wickets before returning to win the rain-affected second game by 29 runs under Duckworth/Lewis.
Estwick said the series had been important in helping West Indies regain the confidence and winning touch especially after back-to-back series losses to Pakistan.
“It’s a good thing to come up with a series win because the last couple of series we played we’ve actually lost against Pakistan so it’s good we got a win,” he pointed out.
He added: “What I’ve liked about the performances is that we’ve set out game plans and we’ve actually executed them very, very well and that’s always very pleasing from a team performance [perspective].
“But we’ve got to keep working, we’ve got to keep improving. There are going to be tougher challenges along the way, we’ll meet bigger teams as we go forward but the thing about it is that it’s all about learning, getting some kind of momentum, getting some kind of team spirit and staying disciplined as well.”
