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WEST INDIES wicketkeeper/batsman Joshua Da Silva has described his maiden Test century, in the third and final Test against England at the National Stadium, St George’s, Grenada on Saturday as a “childhood dream.”
Da Silva scored 100 not out and was named the Man of the Match as the West Indies whipped England by ten wickets to clinch the series 1-0 and claim the Richards-Botham trophy.
“This century, it means the world,” he said, during an interview on Monday. “It’s the pinnacle of my Test career thus far and I can hope for many more of that.
“I definitely have to thank my parents, thank God of course and all my support team, my girlfriend, her parents who have always supported me, friends, coaches, (Red Force coach) David Furlonge, Phil (Simmons, the WI coach). It’s a solid team effort and the support was very necessary for me.”
Da Silva continued, “It’s a childhood dream coming through. I could remember watching Brian Lara scoring 400 (against England in 2014) and how much that meant for him. For me, to score a 100 for the West Indies, win the game and get Man of the Match, was something I couldn’t dream of.”
The West Indies, in response to England’s 204, resumed their first innings on Saturday on 232/8 with Da Silva on 54 and Kemar Roach on 25.
“After day two, we needed to stretch our lead as far as possible,” said Da Silva. My thinking was just to bat as long as possible and continue to build on the lead with Kemar and Jayden (Seales). I really had no worries with both of them sticking around. I just trusted them and made sure that I did my part and that was the best thing I could do.
“This knock is definitely number one on my list, by a long way. This means everything to me. This is the greatest achievement in my cricketing career thus far. Hopefully, it just gets better.”
On his methodical pursuit to his century, Da Silva had to face a lot of banter from the English fielders. “I just wanted to keep batting and keep frustrating them,” he noted. “They wanted to give me a bit of talk, just to see if I can play a rash shot.”
There was debate over Da Silva’s place on the team, especially as his predecessor Shane Dowrich made a return to First-Class cricket, after a two-year absence, for the Barbados Pride this year.
Da Silva pointed out, “I don’t think my form was in question. My home form wasn’t very good but, overall, I came off the last series in Sri Lanka where I averaged 60. I didn’t have the greatest of summers at home but I had averaged around 25, maybe a little less. But I did not feel any pressure.”
While acknowledging that he was happy to see Dowrich back in the regional circuit, Da Silva said, “I just wanted to do what I did, continue to work hard on my game and control the things that I could control. I just wanted to be the best team man (that) I could be and, whatever the team needed, try my best to do. It so happened that I had a pretty good series.”
There have been some calls for Da Silva to be used higher up in the batting line-up, even as an opener. He said, “Wherever it’s necessary to bat, I’m going to try my best for team, wherever the coach or the selectors see it fit. I am very happy to put my best foot forward in that position and wherever they decide to put me in the batting order, I’ll just give my all and hopefully get runs in the end.”
This year, the 23-year-old was given the role of vice-captain of the TT Red Force.
“I would like to think of myself as a good leader. I’m still very young and quite new into Test cricket. With (the) Red Force, I’m very happy to be second to (Imran Khan). He’s a phenomenal leader and a wealth of experience and knowledge. I’m just trying to learn from him, learn from the (experienced) players and hopefully, in the future, that opportunity (to be a captain) can present itself.”
After 14 Tests, since making his debut against New Zealand in 2019, Da Silva averages 32 with the bat.
“I would love to finish my career, however long it might be, over 40,” he noted. “So that would be the goal for sure. But numbers are numbers, it’s whatever the team needs, what is the best I can offer and what is needed in the moment of the game.”
On the future of Test cricket, Da Silva said, “I definitely don’t think Test cricket is dying. It’s my favourite format, and the reason I love it is the ups and downs of it.
“Those four days summed up why I love Test cricket, even though we had two draws earlier on and nobody won. Definitely getting a result in this game shows the excitement that Test cricket can still bring.”
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