Shai Hope

Nationality

West Indies

Born

November 10, 1993 (32 years)

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. <br/> <br/> 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. <br/> <br/> 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. <br/> <br/> 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. <br/> <br/> 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.