Kirk Edwards    

Kirk Edwards announced himself on the world stage in style, becoming only the 14th West Indian batsman to score a century on his Test debut, and in the process joining the likes of George Headley, Lawrence Rowe and Gordon Greenidge.

Born into a cricketing family, Kirk Edwards started playing the sport at a young age and raked in the runs at age-group-level cricket. After impressive performances as a top-order batsman for the Barbados Under-19 side, he was named vice-captain of West Indies Under-19s for the 2004 Youth World Cup. Two years later he made his first-class debut but had to wait till 2009 before hitting his maiden first-class hundred, against Windward Islands in Bridgetown. Edwards found a place in the West Indies A side that toured Bangladesh, Ireland and England in 2010, and made the opportunity count by scoring 147 in a 50-over match against England Lions at Northampton.

More runs for West Indies A, against Pakistan A on their tour of the West Indies, found him a place in West Indies' squad for their one-day series in Sri Lanka at the end of 2010 but the series was postponed due to unexpected rains in Sri Lanka. In February 2011, Edwards scored 171 against England Lions in Bridgetown in a first-class match, and a few days later was on a plane to India to replace an injured Adrian Barath in West Indies' 2011 World Cup squad. He played only one match during the tournament, but was included in the squad for the subsequent home one-day series against Pakistan and India. He made his Test debut in the final match of India's Test series in the West Indies in 2011, and his second-innings hundred has raised hopes that West Indies have found a quality middle-order batsman for Test cricket.

Cricinfo staff