By Sean Devers
At 16, Essequibo under-19 Captain Kemo Mandela Angus Paul has done everything on a cricket field for Guyana. The versatile teen has kept wicket, played as a batsman, bowled spin and represented his Country as a fast bowler.
Kemo Paul
A former Guyana under-15 & 17 player, Kemo who has another three years at under-level and one more at under-17, was the stand out all rounder in the just concluded GCB three-day under-19 Inter-County tournament and became the first specialist Essequibo fast bowler to score at Inter-county century at any level.
Kemo was born on February 21, 1998 to David Paul and Rita Hendricks and grew up in the beach Community of Saxacally in the Essequibo River where he attended the Primary school and became interested in cricket as a three year-old.
“I was playing cricket for as long as I can remember but I never played hard ball cricket in Saxacally. I remember my father bowling to me and at age seven I was in the senior Saxacally softball team,” Kemo informed.
His family (he has three sisters and two brothers) migrated to the Essequibo Island of Wakenaam when he was 11 and is a student at the Essequibo Islands Secondary where he is preparing to sit the CXC exams from June 20.
A multi-talented athlete, he represents his school in Football and three years ago won the Mashramani Cycle Road race around Wakenaam but Cricket is his first love.
“Kemo lives for cricket and made 56 against Leguan Secondary in his very first hard ball match for Essequibo Islands Secondary before making his Essequibo under-15 debut at 12 and by the next year he was in the Guyana under-15 team,” his dad said proudly.
“His older brother Keon plays for the San Souci Club in Wakenaam and I want to join a female softball team now that I am living in Town. His entire family loves cricket and Kemo is supposed to come and play for DCC when his exams are finished,” his 22-year-old sister Candacy revealed.
Kemo, whose hobbies include sports, watching movies, reading and listening to music, was invited to the Essequibo under-15 trials as a Wicketkeeper as an 11-year-old but did not gain selection.
Kemo scored back-to-back tons for his school against the NOC under-15 & U-17 in two T20 matches and played for Guyana in 2011 & 2012, as a batsman who bowled off-spin after making 51 on his inter county under-15 debut against Berbice at Providence. He was Guyana under-15 Captain in his last year at that level and broke his tooth while Wicketkeeping in the tournament.
The Essequibian who says his favorite cricketer is Shiv Chanderpaul, Captained his County when they won the u-17 title last year and represented Guyana at the under-17 level in 2012 & 2013 before making his National under-19 debut last year against Bangladesh under-19s at Bourda.
Kemo made his senior Inter-County debut as a 15 year-old and scored 51 against Demerara
Kemo Paul bowls
last year and says his aim is to do well if selected for the Guyana under-19 side this year and to play for Guyana at the senior level by 20. His ultimate goal is to make the West Indies team.
It’s interesting how he became a fast bowler. In 2012 after returning from the Regional under-15 tournament former National off-spinner Gavin Nedd saw the youngster bowling pace and was so impressed that he encouraged Kemo to become a fast bowler.
In a short stint with DCC under-15s of which Nedd was the Coach, Kemo played three matches in 2012 and won the Man-of-Match award in all three as a fast bowling all-rounder.
He took 6-15 in the final after scoring 65 in the semis and his father, who hails from West Berbice and played at the Club level with former Guyana Pacer Ray Joseph, says he hopes to instill in his son the right attitude as he climbs the ladder in his cricket career.