Cricket found Realeanna Grimmond before she found it. Growing up in a household where both parents played the game, she was on the road with them before she could properly explain why she loved it.

“I used to travel a lot with them so I kind of just fell into cricket as well”,

she says of those early years.

That inherited love quickly turned into ambition. After being selected for Guyana at the Under-19 level, the door opened for Grimmond to then represent the maroon for the first time at the ICC Women’s U19 World Cup. She still remembers the jitters and goosebumps after hearing the anthem for the first time.

“I just felt goosebumps, just being there with your teammates and also hearing Rally Round the West Indies, I still get goosebumps from that”,

she said.

As much as Grimmond’s presence sparks the conversation of the future of West Indies Women’s cricket, she is proud of the example and path paved by the greats before her. She points to senior teammates like Hayley Matthews and Stafanie Taylor and how their experience shows up in how they play.

“Their experience shows up constantly in how they approach their game, and I just feel like I can learn a lot from them just to build my career as well.”

The most revealing part of Grimmond’s story is how she talks about her first series against Australia. Admitting to her feelings of nerves and self doubt, she describes the occasion as a new one while heading out to the middle.

The fix? Her teammate, Chinelle Henry’s advice to her to simply be herself.

“I was thinking, how can I be as good as them? I felt as though they were really experienced, and it was my first time playing against them. I can remember when I went out to bat, I was really nervous, and I was batting with Henry at the time, and she spoke to me, she told me to be myself, just express myself, and from there that just boosted my confidence and I just kept playing my game”,

Grimmond expressed.

That experience continues to forge Realeanna’s self belief. Coming into the side for the series against Ireland, she is focused on taking those valuable lessons with her.

“I think what I can take into this series against Ireland from what I’ve learned playing against Australia is that I have to always be ready for anything, because at any point, anytime, anything can happen. It might not always go my way, but I just have to work on myself and have that mental toughness, and you know, not just thinking that because they are really good that I can’t be as good as them.”

Those words proved prophetic.

In the opening ODI of the three-match series against Ireland in Ireland on July 10, Grimmond announced herself on the international stage with a magnificent 91 as West Indies comfortably chased 270 to win by nine wickets. Opening the batting alongside captain Hayley Matthews, who finished unbeaten on 159, the pair put on a commanding 258-run opening partnership that effectively settled the contest before Grimmond fell just nine runs short of a maiden international century.

If her own words are anything to go by, Realanna Grimmond has already learned the most important lesson of all, belief in her own game is the one thing she won’t compromise on, no matter who the opposition is.