Lawes hails CPL as ultimate battleground for career development

VITEL Lawes believes the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is the perfect classroom for young West Indies white-ball cricketers, and the 19-year-old left-arm wrist spinner is determined to use the lessons to build his senior career across all three formats of the game.

Jamaica Kingsmen bowler Lawes said he is enjoying his first taste of CPL cricket and that the exposure has been invaluable.

“I mean, the CPL is the biggest party in sport, you know. It’s a place where you can come and learn more about the skills in white-ball cricket, get exposed to different things, different types of batsmen.

“It’s a good learning experience, so it’s just for me to take the learnings and go back to the drawing board after the CPL and do the necessary work,” Lawes told the Jamaica Observer.

Lawes, who also debuted for the West Indies senior team recently, said he is not thinking short term.

“It’s been a good experience, you know, playing for West Indies at a very young age. People think it adds a lot of pressure on you but I don’t really think about it; I just go there and do what I do best, you know, enjoy the game.

“I want a long-term career, you know. I want to play all three formats of the game, but in order to do that I have to put in the work — and I think I’m willing to do that,” he explained.

He credited much of his progress to West Indies spin coach, Nikita Miller.

“I’ve just been doing my work with Nikita Miller on the side. I just follow instructions of what I’ve been given. I’ve just been following what I’ve been told, and I’ve been stringing my balls.

“I think I’m getting better. I mean, the results speak for themselves in ODI [One-Day International] cricket so it’s just for me to continue doing what I’ve been doing,” Lawes said.

Lawes said that the leg-spin journey started in his living room.

“I started at a very young age watching the same CPL, watching the Jamaica Tallawahs was playing, and they had Adam Zampa. That’s how I started bowling spin in the first place. I don’t know what to tell you about my bowling, to be honest, I just do what I do best. I just spin the ball, that’s all I do,” he said.

He didn’t realise it was serious until later.

“Never knowing what I was doing was real until later, about 11 years old, and people took me in and tried to teach me the sport. So that’s how it basically started,” he noted.

A St Jago High School graduate, Lawes says his support system has been crucial. His mother, Ilyn Henry-Campbell, is his biggest fan.

“She’s made a lot of sacrifices for me growing up so it’s the least I can do for her to make her proud. She used to listen to cricket at a young age. She used to buy battery for the radio to listen to cricket so I think she’ll be very proud of her son to be playing for the West Indies at this time,” he said.

And his schoolmates never doubted him.

“I mean, they always told me I will do well. They always believed in me. Nothing’s changed between us. We’ve still been normal friends,” he said.