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Following his successful Under-19s World Cup campaign, Teague Wyllie debuted for Western Australia and was a part of their first Sheffield Shield-winning side, within his lifetime.
As only a teenager, the achievements under his belt are extraordinary, with one of the only boxes left unticked in his red-ball résumé being a Test debut.
Unfortunately for him, success in an Under 19s World Cup (without any prior domestic experience in the longer format) isn’t enough to play Test cricket… unless you’re now 20-year-old West-Indian Jayden Seales.
Before making his anticipated debut in the Regional Four-Day Competition (the West Indies Championship), Seales had already represented West Indies in the Test format.
In January and February 2020, 18-year-old Seales played for the West Indies Under-19s in the South African-hosted World Cup. Seales impressed throughout the tournament, finishing as the 12th-leading wicket-taker with ten wickets at 18.30.
His best figures for the cup were 4-19, with the right-armer’s sheer pace and bounce proving too much for Nigeria’s top order.
Later in 2020, Seales signed with the Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League, dismissing Nicholas Pooran on his debut. In December of that year, the young paceman was selected to represent West Indies A against New Zealand A, making his first-class debut in the process.
(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Seales only picked up one wicket for the match, with off-spinning all-rounder Rahkeem Cornwall leading the West Indian attack with six for the game. In February 2021, Seales made his Trinidad and Tobago (and List A) debut, at only 19 years of age.
In May 2021, Seales was selected for a four-day intra-squad game between Team Blackwood and Team Hamilton in Saint Lucia. He completed the match with figures of 1-47 and 4-40, including the scalps of Darren Bravo and Shai Hope.
Following this performance, Seales, 19, was selected for West Indies’ first Test against South Africa in June, despite having only played in one first-class match (with West Indies A,) and ten games of professional cricket prior. It didn’t take him long to make his mark, dismissing South African batsman Keegan Petersen with a 135 kph pearl on only his fifth Test ball bowled.
Since being given this opportunity, Seales has played in seven more Test matches and has taken 27 wickets at 23.40. A couple of his standout performances thus far include 4-75 against England at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in March of this year and 5-55 against Pakistan in August 2021.
Due to that five-wicket haul, Seales now holds the record as the youngest West Indian to take a Test 5-for, at 19 years, 334 days.
With the West Indies set to tour Australia in a two-Test series, starting in Perth on November 30, Seales could prove a pivotal hidden gem in the Windies’ side.
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