ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Akeem Auguste was around four years old the first time he stood at a crease, his father the bowler, soon to discover a sport that would come to define his life.

By age twelve, his love for the game was accompanied by a desire for excellence, but when the young Saint Lucian was not selected for the Windward Islands’ Under 15 side, he decided from that point he would never be passed over for any team ever again.

“I didn’t get selected and from then on, I never wanted to get that feeling again of being left out of a team. I started to train a little harder and be more intentional with the things I was working on,” he admitted.

It is the kind of disappointment that either breaks a young sportsperson or quietly reshapes their drive for success. Luckily for Akeem, that early setback caused the latter.

Beneath his easy going, carefree and jovial disposition is a cricketer who has learned to separate the calmness of his personality from the seriousness of sport and over the years, the accumulation of experience has raised his level of dedication.

Nothing in Auguste’s early career tested him quite like what happened in the lead-up to the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India.

In late 2025, fresh off his international debuts in the T20 and One Day formats and involved in franchise cricket abroad, his body turned against him at the worst possible time. What began as gastro-like symptoms was something far more serious – a twisted intestine which required emergency surgery.

“Missing out on the World Cup, I felt it,” he says. “It gave me some extra motivation to start back training so I can get back to where I was and even better.”

Recovery was slow and steady while solid food and body movements returned in increments. ​ A few months later, he made his long-awaited competitive return in a club fixture in Antigua as his training sessions increasingly intensified.

On his return to action for Windward Islands Volcanoes in the 2026 West Indies Championship, he has so far scored in the nineties twice even though there might be a slight hurdle to the century mark.

“If somebody told me that I would get ninety-odd twice compared to two ducks, I would take the ninety odd. I’m just grateful for whatever I get and I’m going to try to learn as much as possible so I can get over that barrier.”

“If you put in the work, trust that at the right time you will get a score because a score is around the corner. Focus more on the process and not so much the results, because eventually it will come,” he urged.

When asked to define a successful season, the 22-year-old summed it up to strictly observing a personal obligation to be the best version of himself in all aspects of life.

“Success for me is being the best person that I can be overall, whether it be in the sport of cricket or just everyday life. I want to represent myself and my family well and do the job for the team whenever it comes around.”

Somewhere in St. Lucia, there is a backyard that started it all and a father who knew that this was a batter worth bowling to.