Shai Hope

Profile
Hailing from Barbados, Shai Diego Hope is a right-handed Windies batsman who made his Test debut against England in 2015. Having played just 14 first-class games prior to his international debut, Hope was selected for the national team after he scored a double century against the Windward Islands team on the last day of the Regional four-day competition.

After making his first-class debut in 2012/13, Hope caught the eye of the national selectors after a fantastic 2014/15 season. He was the fourth highest run-scorer of the tournament, amassing 628 runs in nine matches.

When words like talent and potential ring around, the world expects a proof of it; sooner rather than later. After averaging only 16 in his first 10 Test matches, Shai Hope had a point to prove. In swinging conditions, under lights and against a pink ball at Edgbaston, Hope was exposed to the harsh realities of the moving ball. All he could manage were scores of 15 and 4 in that Test where Windies infamously lost 19 wickets in a day in a meek surrender to concede a 1-0 lead.

Windies then roared back to pull off a stunning victory in only the next Test at Leeds. They chased 322 runs to win a Test match in England, beating them for the first time in 17 years, in 19 matches and after that abject three-day humiliation of Birmingham. It was Shai Hope who took Windies to a memorable victory with an unbeaten century, his second in the match. ‘It has never happened before in the 127 year history of first-class cricket in Yorkshire at Headingley’ — were the words gushed out by Fazeer Mohammed on BBC Radio as Hope unleashed himself on the international stage whilst putting all the criticism to rest.

The most impressive feature of Shai Hope’s twin hundreds was the calmness and maturity he displayed. With oodles of talent on his side and a good head on top of his shoulder, Hope could go a long way in achieving great success with Windies.