Thorne competed at the recent Under-19 World Cup
You represented the West Indies during the ICC Men’s U19 World Cup earlier this year. So for yourself and all of those players, did you look at this as a tournament as an opportunity to come and dominate?
As a West Indies player, I believe you need to come here and show why you are a West Indies player. So for me, yes I came here trying to dominate and show that I’m a step above and doing everything I can on the field to help my team win the competition.
In round two versus the Leeward Islands, you took a six-wicket haul. How have you found the bowling conditions compared to what you experienced growing up in Guyana or what you experienced bowling during the Under-19 World Cup?
It’s not the easiest for fast bowling, but I think we could still work with it. But I think as senior youth players, we should be able to cope with the conditions and try to make the best out of it and I think I did that in the last game against Leewards.
Obviously, during the U19 World Cup, it was white ball cricket where at maximum you only had to bowl 10 overs. How have you found the transition in this three-day tournament where you have had to bowl more than 10 overs over two innings?
It has been a very difficult thing because, since last August, I haven’t played any red cricket. So coming here after playing the first game was tough, I have been able to just kind of get into it. Bowling the overs is not a problem for me, because I think I’m fit enough to bowl the overs. It’s just that in the white ball game you are trying to hit the stumps more than often we will do here in three-day cricket.
How has the experience of bowling in English conditions during the 2021 West Indies U19 tour helped your game as a young player so far?
It was still a challenge because it was new conditions and all of that from the West Indies. But I think it really helped me as a fast bowler. The conditions were helpful to fast bowling and it shows you how you need to be consistent to get wickets. (CWI)
