(Saint Lucia Daily Post – March 20, 2025) – When the final lists of the 6 participating teams in the Inaugural West Indies T20 Breakout League were released today, an impressive 6 Saint Lucian cricketers made the cut between 2 franchises. However, none of them were Kimani Melius. The right handed opening batter, failed to make the cut for any of the franchises, which once again raised questions about the promise he once demonstrated and the reasons behind what seems to be a steady decline in his game.
Melius who donned the West Indies maroon as captain of the Under 19 World Cup squad and has had stints with the Saint Lucia Kings and West Indies Academy, is currently under retainer with the Windward Island Volcanoes. Naturally, after being one of the premier young batting talents in the region, all eyes were peeled to see Melius’ involvement in the Breakout League.
Saint Lucia Daily Post understands that well over 600 cricketers around the region registered for the draft via themselves or their agents, with a final list being distributed by Cricket West Indies to the franchises.
Windward Islands Infernos Head Coach Kenroy Peters, confirmed with Saint Lucia Daily post that Kimani did not feature in that initial list. Peters speculated that it may have been due to Melius being injured at the time of registration. He went on to indicate that Melius was only recently cleared fit and will be available for selection for the final rounds of the ongoing 4 Day Regional Tournament.
Peters says this is unfortunate, as they would have definitely considered Melius if he had appeared on that initial list. He went on to explain that the 7 protected players had all but selected themselves, since a leg spinner was mandated by the competition rules and the services of Windward Islands players who featured in the last edition of the CPL had to be secured.
When contacted by Saint Lucia Daily Post, Melius would confirm that he had no conflicting commitments and was fully fit. “Whatever is going on, I won’t give up and I’ll let my bat do the talking.”, he said.
Melius was the center of a Facebook controversy last year after he was announced by the Bangla Tigers Joburg to represent the franchise in the ZimAfro T10 Tournament which was scheduled to run from September 21 to 29, 2024. Kimani never joined the Tigers, as news surfaced that the team had withdrawn their interest in him playing for the franchise. It was alleged by some individuals purporting to have intimate knowledge of the scenario that there was a conspiracy by top ranking cricket officials to sideline the young Saint Lucian. The basis of these allegations were never substantiated. Melius however, never lent his voice publicly to the discussion and the actual details of the event remain shrouded in mystery.
The other Saint Lucians selected to play in the Inaugural West Indies T20 Breakout League are Shadrack Descarte (27) and Ackeem Auguste (21) who were protected by the Windward Island Infernos, Keon Gaston (21), Noelle Leo (21) and Lee John (19) who were also drafted by the Infernos and McKenny Clarke (21) who was drafted by the Trinidad & Tobago Legions.
The tournament runs from April 25 to May 10 and all matches will be hosted at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago.
