Former West Indies under-19 cricketer Joshua James has benefited in 2022 and is looking ahead to the year ahead, including a call-up to the Trinidad and Tobago Red Squad.
A former national youth cricketer, James was a member of the Jamaica Tallawahs team that won the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL). He became the second Tobagonian to play in the CPL, following in the footsteps of Naveen Stewart.
21 years old, James is now transitioning from a junior to a senior player. That transition is sometimes difficult for athletes, but James is pleased with his progress.
“Yeah, I think my progress is coming along quite well. I am bowling good, keeping my line and length. In the batting… you take your time and work it around until you get the balls that you could hit. Once I continue with that it is only going to get better for me.”
James, who is the captain of the Masqueraders team in the Namalco under-23 tournament that started on Wednesday, says that his aim is to join the TT senior team within the next three years.
“Within the next three years my goal is to make the TT senior team, that is the red ball (cricket) and 50 overs then move on to the West Indies senior team as well.”
He also wants to at least get a call-up to the regional team’s training squad and start learning.
“If not on (the team) be in and around so when the chance comes knocking I could always be there.”
He also wants to at least get a call-up to the regional team’s training squad and start learning
“The CPL this year was really good for me. Last year I only got to play one game, but this year I got to play three.”
“The key for us this year winning the CPL was (matching) player for player. (Looking at) players’ weaknesses and analyse and come back on the day and still put the work in. Especially when the players went out and did what they said in the meeting it worked out the majority (of time) in our favor.”
Also, he was the most successful bowler of the West Indies Academy in the Super50 Cup along with Joshua Bishop. James took 8 wickets in five matches with an economy rate of 4.91. He was also useful with the bat, scoring 111 runs at an average of 37.00 with a top score of 73.
Speaking further, James was happy with the experience he got in the Super 50 tournament. He explained it,
“They used me as a bowling all-rounder, but I know I am capable with the bat. I had to bat wherever they put me (in the batting order), but whenever I get the chance I still have to make use of it…the Super50, that was a great experience for us as young guys. We got to play against the Caribbean’s best. Although we did not get the results that we were looking for. It was the first time for some of us, so it is just learning from here.”
At the end of the year, he became a member of the West Indies Academy, which participated in the West Indies Super 50 Cup cricket tournament.