Caribbean Cricket Podcast · Machel St Patrick Hewitt

Talking Cricket, Soca and Wuk-Up with Spinny

·55 min·3 clips

Spinny says mental strength, not ability alone, kept him from going further in cricket.

The conversation opens with the hosts introducing a special guest and then mostly letting him tell the story himself. He says he had a strong run in Barbados for about three years and, at one point, held the most wickets for Empire. Even then, some people did not take his cricket seriously because he was also booked to perform. He recalls Soccer on the Hill, where the clash became visible to outsiders. His coach, Shirlen Grace, told him to get four wickets and make 60, then go and enjoy himself. He says he did better than that, finishing with five wickets and a hundred. That moment helped show why people outside the room misread what was going on. From there, the nickname Spin settles in cricket circles and becomes the one that sticks. The discussion then moves to how cultural cardio came about, why he eventually stopped dancing because it was taking too much and giving too little, and why social media felt like a better lane. He says seeing Nandi's break on Montana pushed him, because it showed him a path where he would not have to depend on a singer to stay relevant. The episode also touches on the way people have long looked to him for enjoyment at parties, and the sense that there are books telling versions of the same story. What comes through is a portrait of someone trying to explain why the public read him one way while his cricket, his performances, and his own experience pointed somewhere else.

As heard by us

Cricket drives the strongest moments in a loose, lively conversation.

Talking Cricket, Soca and Wuk-Up with Spinny keeps its footing best when it circles back to cricket. The booking clash with the match is the cleanest beat: the coach tells him to get the wickets first, and he answers with five wickets and a hundred knockouts.

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Why you'd press play

If you like cricket talk with a side of dance-floor energy and self-made swagger, press play.

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