
By Neto Baptiste
Professional cricketer Kofi James believes the guidance and knowledge he received from being a member of the Liberta Sports Clubs and a player with the successful PIC Liberta Blackhawks has helped prepare him for the next step.
James is fresh off his first stint in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) where he made his debut for the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots while he is also a member of the Leeward Islands Hurricanes squad for the upcoming CG United Men’s Super50 Cup slated to bowl off in October.
“At the Blackhawks camp the goal is always to prepare players for the next level and even the next level after that. We’ve heard a lot of the things we are actually going through now because you hear the coaches and senior players say things and you’re actually living it out. So, I’d say I’ve heard this before and seen this before, so it’s not new to you. So, even though you may be in the position for the first time, it’s something you know mentally already, so you could actually know how to deal with certain situations,” he said.
James, who can be destructive with both bat and ball, believes he has come a long way in both aspects of his game but says his strongest point is still his batting.
“I am a batting all-rounder but sometimes in life you have to just go with the flow and the bowling in working. A lot of people who don’t know Kofi James, they see my stats and they say, ‘he’s a bowler’. I’ve been approached by a lot of people who think I can’t bat. They’ve never seen me bat or even know that I am a batsman; they just think I am a bowler based on whatever they saw in whichever tournament,” he said.
James made his CPL debut for the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots against the Guyana Amazon Warriors on August 24 when he came on as a concussion substitute in St Kitts. He made seven runs, hitting a huge six before he was bowled by Motie.
He then featured against the Trinbago Knight Riders on August 27, bowling one over for 11 runs. James did not bat in that contest.