Melius Returns for Windwards

After months of speculation about his absence from regional cricket, former West Indies Under-19 captain Kimani Melius is finally set to resume his domestic career. The Windward Islands Volcanoes named the 24-year-old right-handed top-order batter from Boguis in their squad for the final two rounds of the Cricket West Indies Championship.

Five Saint Lucians are included among the 13-member squad, with at least one expected to make their First Class debuts on home soil. The Windward Islands will play Barbados Pride from Wednesday, April 2, at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.

Melius had been left out of the team earlier in the season, fueling uproar in the local cricketing community. As a schoolboy at Babonneau Secondary, he had hit the highest score ever on Saint Lucia soil and the highest by any Saint Lucian at any level. His record of 275 lasted until last year. His knock of 192 for the Windward Islands in 2023 is the best innings by a Saint Lucian batsman in First Class cricket.

But after being handed the Windward Islands captaincy last year, the talented youngster went through a prolonged lean patch. He was then bitten by the injury bug, slowing his return to the game. Now, though, he is slated to play his first four-day game since March 2024, when he lined up against the Guyana Harpy Eagles. 

In 15 First Class matches, Melius has hit 617 runs at an average of 21.27, with three 50s and one hundred, since making his debut as an 18-year-old against Barbados in 2019.

Shadrack Descarte made his maiden First Class 100 the last time the Volcanoes played in Saint Lucia, winning in the fourth round over the Leeward Islands. Though included in previous squads, Noelle Leo, Johnnel Eugene, and Keon Gaston have yet to make the playing XI for the sub-regional team. Left-handed batter Leo, 21 years old, is listed as the sole wicketkeeper in the squad. Eugene is a promising young batsman, and Gaston is a thrilling pace-bowling all-rounder. The uncapped trio have been working diligently under the guidance of the coaching staff at Saint Lucia’s Cricket High Performance Centre.

Of the eight teams in the CWI Championship, the Windwards are sixth in the points table, above only Combined Campuses and Colleges and the West Indies Academy. They finish their campaign from April 9-12 at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua & Barbuda against the Academy, whose numbers include two more Saint Lucians, Ackeem Auguste and McKenny Clarke.