Greatness emerging from Devendra Bishoo

TIMES INT'L

Last week, in the midst of a tight County Championship race, I was delighted to learn that my fellow Guyanese and West Indian teammate Devendra Bishoo had won the ICC’s Emerging Player of the Year award for 2011. This is a richly-deserved accolade for Bishoo, and marks the first time that a West Indian cricketer has won this prestigious honour.

Since his international debut at the World Cup in India, his performances in both those ODIs and the subsequent ODIs and Test matches against India and Pakistan, where he reaped 40 wickets in just 16 matches, have amply demonstrated this young cricketer’s focus, hard work and dedication to his craft.

But, at 25 years of age, Bishoo did not just turn up fully formed. We are all aware of the untimely loss of his father, who encouraged him to become a cricketer.

Additionally, I am reminded of an even younger man who, at the Albion Cricket Club house, was an eager student of the game even as he helped to take care of the national and international cricketers when we played there.

It is this humility and desire to constantly improve that has caused him to shine so brightly against England, and then India, on his international debut in Chennai at the World Cup. Bishoo is an attacking bowler who plays an attractive style of cricket, and it is important that both the Guyanese and West Indies Cricket Boards nurture young talents like him.

Moreover, Bishoo should be encouraged to seek an English County Cricket contract so that he can continue to develop as a fine bowler in all forms of the game, in addition to working to strengthen his batting. Furthermore, as he emerges to fulfill his great potential, it is my hope that he and the other youngsters from the West Indies, such as Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo, can lead a desperately desired cricket revival in our region.

So, to my friend Bishoo, I offer my heartiest congratulations and best wishes for a long and glorious career as an international cricketer. Those of us who have played alongside you know that the best is yet to come!

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