For Kevin Wickham, cricket is no longer only about runs, victories, or personal milestones.
Every innings has become something more intimate. Every boundary carries remembrance. Every moment at the crease is tied to the memory of his late father, Herbert.
More than two years after losing the man who shaped his love for the game, the Barbados Pride batter continues to channel grief into determination, using his performances as a living tribute to the father whose voice still echoes in his mind.
When Wickham walks onto the field now, he does so carrying more than a bat.
He carries legacy.
Pain that changed everything
The 23-year-old rising star recently etched his name into Caribbean cricket history by becoming just the third Barbadian this century to score centuries in both innings of a regional first-class match.
With those twin hundreds, Wickham joined an exclusive list alongside Kraigg Brathwaite and Ryan Hinds, an achievement that further confirmed his emergence as one of the region’s brightest batting talents.
But behind the milestone lies a story marked by loss and emotional struggle.
Reflecting on one of the most difficult periods of his young career, Wickham revealed how deeply his father’s death affected him.
“When my father passed, that was the toughest part for me,” Wickham said. “I was here in Jamaica when I got the news that he wasn’t doing too well and I left for home, and after returning to playing after the funeral, I wasn’t doing too well on the field because it was really tough.”
The emotional burden lingered long after he returned to cricket.
“The guys showed me a lot of support because it was more mental than physical, and having their support kept me above ground and helped me maintain high standards and be where I am supposed to be.”
A father’s voice still present
Though Herbert Wickham rarely attended matches in person, his connection to his son’s cricket career never wavered.
Kevin remembers a father who followed every innings closely, often through radio broadcasts, and always had detailed feedback waiting when he returned home.
“I think about my dad all the time because he was very supportive,” Wickham said. “He never really watched the games by coming to the grounds, but he would always listen to the radio, a more old-schooled way.”
Those conversations became part of his cricket education.
“Every time I came home, he could tell me how much I scored, what I should and shouldn’t have done. To this day I miss him because I miss having those conversations, and when I’m not doing too well, I try to think back to his advice.”
Turning emotion into dominance
That emotional drive has fueled some of the finest innings of Wickham’s career.
Against the Jamaica Scorpions, he unleashed a devastating display of batting in the first innings, hammering 153 with six boundaries and 12 towering sixes before returning to craft an unbeaten 108 in the second innings.
Both knocks arrived under pressure, with Barbados Pride needing stability after difficult starts.
“The first innings century was very special to me because that is now my highest first-class score,” Wickham explained. “I came at the stage where the team was in a bit of trouble, so my aim was to stay at the crease for as long as possible and get a good total for the team.”
The approach remained unchanged in the second innings.
“The second one I found myself in a similar position where the team was in a bit of trouble, but the mindset was the same, get the team in a good position.”
Learning to survive the demands of senior cricket
Wickham’s rise has not been without challenges.
After emerging as one of the Caribbean’s most promising young batters with a century against Zimbabwe during the 2022 ICC Under-19 World Cup, expectations quickly intensified as he transitioned into senior cricket.
The adjustment, he admitted, tested him mentally.
“This phase has been different, a lot tougher in terms of expectations after coming out of Under-19 cricket because I had a few low scores, but coach always told me just to stick to my plans and when the runs are coming stay in decent touch as long as possible because in cricket a player will have more failures than success.”
Still, Wickham entered the series with a clear target in mind.
“I set myself a personal goal of scoring three hundreds in this bilateral series and putting the team in good positions and I’ve scored two so far, and with a start like that I’m looking to better it as the games goes on.”
A career rising, a legacy preserved
Already armed with five first-class centuries and an average above 40 after just 22 matches, Wickham’s career trajectory continues to rise sharply.
Yet even as accolades grow and expectations mount, his motivation remains deeply personal.
Beyond the applause, beyond the scorecards and headlines, Kevin Wickham continues to bat for the man who first believed in him, a father whose presence he still feels with every innings he plays.
As fate would have it, rather than slowing down, Wickham carried his form seamlessly into the second match of the series, hammering another century, 105 this time, on Tuesday to continue his remarkable run.
That’s three centuries in as many innings.
