Obed aims to be the real McCoy

LANKY Vincentian left-arm pacer Obed McCoy brings guile to the West Indies attack with his mixture of pace, bounce and clever slower balls, which he utilises in his role as a death bowler.

McCoy was a late addition to the West Indies squad for the June 1-29 International Cricket Council (ICC) men’s Twenty/20 World Cup, as he was announced as an injury replacement for allrounder Jason Holder on May 26.

The 27-year-old debuted for the Windies in the One-day international (ODI) format in October 2018, before making his T20 debut a few months later against England in March 2019.

McCoy has played 34 T20s for the Windies and has grabbed a healthy 46 wickets with a strike rate of 14.6. After playing two games versus the English in 2019, McCoy returned to the regional team’s setup in 2021 when he had a consistent run in the build-up to the 2021 T20 World Cup.

In 2021, he showed his capabilities with a pair of four-wicket hauls on Caribbean soil against South Africa and eventual 2021 World Cup champions Australia.

At the 2021 tourney, though, a right-shin injury ended McCoy’s stint after a solitary group match versus England. McCoy also featured at the 2022 edition of the tourney, taking one wicket in three matches as the two-time T20 World Cup winners were knocked out of the tournament’s qualifying phase after losses to Ireland and Scotland.

McCoy’s extraordinary career-best of six for 17 also came in 2022, when he bowled West Indies to an impressive win over India in St Kitts.

Injury hampered McCoy’s consistent run in the format, and he only played four matches for the regional team in 2023 before returning to the setup for a three-match series versus South Africa on the cusp of this year’s World Cup.