West Indies leg-spinner, Hayden Walsh Jr., is working hard to fulfill his dream of becoming the number one bowler in the world.
Walsh, 28, has played 16 T20Is for the West Indies and will look to make a big impact when the Caribbean side takes on New Zealand in three T20Is later this month.
Speaking to the media via Zoom on Sunday evening, Walsh expressed his ultimate goal.
“I definitely see myself being at the top of the world like I want to be number one in the world as a spinner or bowler so just working on that X factor is just number one in all my practices,” the former United States of America bowler said.
The leggie reckoned that he has learnt a lot from playing four-day cricket and T20s and is hopeful it will help him in the upcoming matches.
“Of course I haven’t been getting a lot of spin off the wicket but once I go forward with my confidence and put some spin on the ball, I am sure I will be able to pick up a few wickets here and there for the team,” he said.
The Barbados Trident spinner added, “It’s about being a lot more consistent and continuing to spin the ball. I found bowling a lot more in T20 and four-day cricket leg spinners or spinners in general tend to be a lot flatter and they tend to not spin the ball a lot so I’ve just been working on continuing to spin the ball and doing it at a pace that the batsman can’t get under and it’s not too fast or slow.”
Walsh, despite coming off a tough Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season earlier this year, considers himself to be the best leggie in the region and based this rating on his variations.
According to the 2019 CPL Most Valuable Player, “I am definitely seeing myself as the premier leg-spinner because I turn the ball and I have the googly and slider. I just think that it is my variations that [puts me] you know a step ahead and I am not afraid to use my variation, if I do get hit, I get hit but I am not afraid to use my armoury.”
The US Virgin Island-born Walsh said that playing alongside Rashid Khan in the CPL has boosted his armoury and widened his perspective of the game.
He said, “I was really in awe of Rashid Khan and having him around he taught me just a few grips and a few of his googlies he has in his armoury. One thing I took away was I am a different bowler from Rashid Khan and I probably just need to be myself sometimes but even though his mentality I love how he is positive and always up for a fight and he never backs down.”
The son of former Leewards cricketer Hayden Walsh Snr., said that his confidence ahead of this tour was boosted with his participation in the Barbados domestic T20 tournament.
“I definitely enjoyed my team playing in that tournament. I didn’t really have a very successful CPL as I would like but it was very good for my mental and coming back and playing some cricket, bowling some balls and getting some wickets and some confidence so I think it was really pivotal that I get back out and get back on my feet again,” Walsh stated.
