St Lucia’s batting prodigy Theo Edward wants to break into the West Indies senior team sometime during the next few years. The 15-year-old Edward, a student at the St Lucia Sports Academy, believes Test cricket is the format that suits him best so he is working his way towards that goal.

“My ambitions for the next five years; I want to play in the U19 World Cup and then hopefully go on to play for the senior team,” said Theo, who scored four consecutive centuries for St Lucia’s U15 team during the Windward Islands Cricket Board (WICB) Tournament last December.

“I have a lot of patience and I like to bat long. It gives me more time to think about my decision making so I like to play the longer format.”

In a time when most young players are drawn to the T20 format, it is a refreshing proclamation from the teenager, who made his national U15 team at the age of 11, and who recently returned home from Grenada where the Windward Islands Volcanoes staged a two-week special apprenticeship programme for a few U19 players.

Theo described his stay in Grenada as being beneficial.

“It was a good experience. The standard was very high. I learnt a lot about my batting, and mentally,” he said revealing that he has made some technical improvements.

“When I am facing spin I don’t really go deep in my crease. I learned you have to go deep, back and across so you get more time to see the ball,” he said, adding that. “My head was always falling away so I learned to keep my head straight and that helped me play the ball straighter.”

Theo, who WICB President Dr Kishore Shallow has described as a special talent, began showing an interest in the sport at age nine after his father, Cassius, a bus/taxi driver, began taking him on trips while transporting some West Indies stars while they were in St Lucia.

“Everywhere I go I used to take Theo with me,” the elder Edward said. “All the big stars, and he used to hold the bat and the ball and one day he said “Daddy, I am really interested in cricket and I must be a cricketer one day. But I never thought Theo would take that thing so serious.”

How serious?

“Theo’s life is cricket. You will never come home and Theo isn’t having some cricket watching,” Cassius revealed. “He sleeps with a bat and a ball under his head every single night.”

Theo, the second of the Edward’s two children – he has an older sister Cassie – said his father has been his biggest supporter since he first picked up a bat.

“My father offers the most support to me because he is always at my training sessions, he is always at my games, always looking for gears for me,” he said.

In the past week or so, Cassius has been attending games in the St Lucia schools U19 Tournament in which Theo has been filling his boots. He scored 49 in his team’s victory against Choiseul Secondary, 94 out of a score of 173 in a losing cause to Leon Hess Secondary and on Thursday, scored an unbeaten 40 and took five wickets in a comprehensive victory over Patricia D. James Secondary.

The doting father does so with great pride even though he has sometimes taken flak from other members of the family for his unwavering support for his son’s cricketing ambitions at the expense of his academics.

“Theo’s mother and I were in trouble for him playing cricket,” he recalled.

“When Theo wrote exams for Common Entrance, he didn’t do good at all and I got bashed from my own family who said because of me Theo didn’t do good. But right now everybody is following cricket everywhere Theo goes.”

Besides his father’s support, Theo’s development is in good hands. At school he leans on the experience and wisdom of coach Garey Mauthrin, the former West Indies and Windward Islands left-hander and his staff as well as Alton Crafton, who always has Theo’s ear.

“Alton Crafton is a man who knows a lot about Theo when it comes to cricket. Theo has a lot of respect for Alton and I believe that is why Alton loves him so much because of his patience and he is very disciplined,” said Cassius, who believes his unswerving commitment to his son will one day be rewarded.

 “I am so proud. I will turn down any trip, big trip, big money to take Theo anywhere there is cricket, you know.  I am very proud now and it is about to pay me all my time.

“Theo always tells me ‘Daddy, don’t worry. All that money and all that time you spend with me I will triple that for you. Don’t worry’.”

Alton Crafton, Coach of St Lucia’s national U15 cricket team believes Theo Edward with the right guidance and work ethic has the potential to become a West Indies player in the next few years.

The 15-year-old student of the St Lucia Sports Academy, who in 2019 expressed his ambition to one day play for the West Indies, scored four consecutive centuries in the recent WINLOTT Windward Islands Cricket Board U15 Tournament that helped guide his side to the title playing undefeated.

Edward had scores of 198, 101, 137 and 104 for a total of 540 runs and average of 135.

“Even if you are playing in your backyard, you might score one 100, but four in a row?” said Crafton, who was impressed with Edward’s output during the tournament declaring that he is confident that the all-rounder can make it all the way to the top.

“Certainly. If he just follows the right pathway and have the correct influence around him, for sure.”

Speaking with Sportsmax.TV days after the conclusion of the tournament, the proud coach revealed that while it is still early days young Edward is always showing signs that already has many of the tools needed to become a successful international cricketer.

“He knows his game and he keeps his game very simple,” he said.

“You wouldn’t find him going over the top in the first five overs. He’ll get set and play each ball on its merit and he has high levels of concentration. He can focus for long periods of time and he did so exceptionally during the tournament.

“At that age, he is a work in progress, He knows the game. He has a very good pull shot. He drives off the back foot and front foot. There is always room for improvement but what he has now is enough to carry him through.”

Edward and his teammate Leon Alexander, who also enjoyed a successful tournament with both bat and ball practice with Crafton’s training group. The coach reveals that even though both spend time working on their physical skills, they also focus on other critical areas of development.

“We put a lot of emphasis on them (skills) and they get a chance to practice, practice, practice (but) there is a lot of emphasis on the mental space, keeping them in the right direction, letting them know what exactly they are about  and I have no doubt they will go all the way.”

 Crafton said it is essential that Edward keeps the right people around him to ensure that he maintains his discipline and focus and believes he always has that.

“I know for sure he has his dad in his corner. He just needs to keep it narrow and simple to people he can trust and just move on and keep with the hard work,” he said.

For now, he just needs to spend a little more time working on his game while finding a balance with his academics, Crafton said, the rest will take care of itself.

“We will give him all the support that we can give him,” he said.