The CG United Super 50 tournament is currently being held and the Red Force has won two matches and taken the lead in Group A, while Windward Islands has managed to take the lead in Group B by winning all the three matches played.
In this year’s tournament, the island’s young player Alick Athanaze is the highest scorer in the tournament so far, and it is a special thing that he scored two centuries in the 3 matches he played and Athanaze has scored 275 runs in three innings at an average of 91.67 at an strike rate of 99.64.
Not only did a remarkable two centuries against the Guyana Harpy Eagles and a combined campus and college lead his Windward Islands team to the top of Zone A, but the contrasting nature of the decks turned many heads.
Careful and thoughtful batting in the early stages of his innings against Guyana led to a 140-ball 133 that laid the foundation for an impressive win.
Two days later, he followed it up with a scintillating 140 off 130 balls against campus and college with 16 fours.
In an exclusive interview with the Caribbean Cricket Podcast, Athanaze said that Johnson-Charles helped his slow start to the innings a lot.
“If you look at the two innings they were completely different. Against Guyana I started slowly and was helped massively by Johnson Charles. He was seeing it well and he gave me the time to assess conditions and get into my work.”
The young man who commented further,
“I know I can’t muscle my way out of situations. I have to be smart and play to my strengths, that means batting deep and recognising my boundary and single options.”
Having tasted West Indies A honors against Bangladesh A earlier this year, Athanaze is clearly a player on the selectors’ eyes and his start to this year’s CG United Super 50 is sure to strengthen his momentum.
Dominica’s young talent was hailed by many in the cricket world as the top run-scorer at the end of the 2018 ICC Under-19 World Cup. The ICC named Athanaze the West Indies Rising Star, making him the first Dominican player to represent the senior men’s team since Shane Shillingford in 2012.
He is reaping the rewards with growing maturity in his game and understanding of who he is as a player. A cap for the West Indies is his ultimate goal, and he is in no rush, instead content to focus on the day-by-day, match-by-match of his career.