Keacy Carty

When, in May 2022, Keacy Carty, then 25, was selected to tour the Netherlands, he became the first cricketer born in the island of St Marteen to be in a West Indies squad. The icing on the cake was when he made his ODI debut in the first match, and then scored a composed 43* in the second ODI to help West Indies earn a win.

Carty had first attracted attention much earlier, in 2016, when he hit a patient unbeaten 52 in the final of the Under-19 World Cup. taking West Indies to victory over India for their first - and so far only - victory at that tournament.

Success at the Under-19 level helped Carty make his first-class debut for Leeward Islands barely two weeks later. He hit 386 runs in the next first-class season, although his maiden century in the format came only in 2018-19.

But 217 runs at an average of 54.25 in the Super50 Cup in 2020-21 put him in the ODI side. He got off to good starts in five of his first 11 ODI innings, but failed to get a big score. However, that finally arrived at the World Cup qualifier in 2023, where he got 87 against Sri Lanka, though in a losing cause. A half-century each against England in Bridgetown and against Australia in Melbourne followed, as Carty hinted at providing solidity to West Indies' middle order.