HE IS not only his father and mentor but Arleigh Brathwaite is also the biggest and most ardent fan of his teenaged son, Kraigg, who on Friday became the West Indies' fifth youngest Test cricketer at 18 years, 169 days.

No wonder when Kraigg Brathwaite accepted his maroon West Indies' Test cap from team manager Richie Richardson in front the Calvin Wilkin Players Pavilion at Warner Park here Friday morning, Arleigh was right there clapping.

Even when the West Indies took the field after Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat on the opening day of the second Digicel Test, Arleigh could be seen still clapping away in the South Stand.

Arleigh, who has transported Kraigg to and from nearly all of his matches from the time he was scoring three centuries in the Herman Griffith Primary Schools Tournament in 2003, was delighted that his son had finally been selected in the West Indies' Test side.

"It is a great feeling. Words cannot express how I feel knowing that he has made the full-strength West Indies team," said Arleigh.

"Since this is his first Test match, I had to try and make it as there is only one first," he added after only making travel arrangements late on Thursday after he realised that Kraigg would actually be selected in the starting XI when he called him on another matter.

As a result, Arleigh had to overnight in neighbouring Antigua so that he would get to St Kitts for the start of play and see the first ball just in case the West Indies were batting as Kraigg is an opening batsman.

Ironically, Arleigh had applied for two weeks' vacation since January for this period, but he never knew that he would end up using his holiday time to watch his son play his first Test.

"I only had to get approval to leave a day earlier. I wasn't really thinking when I first applied for vacation that it would be for this...it is just coincidental. It's expensive to come here but I will be staying for the full match," he said.  

Arleigh also spoke about Kraigg's love and commitment to the game of cricket.

 "Kraigg is a very dedicated young man. From the time he was a little boy making centuries at primary school I could see he had the ability to do well," he said.

"There was no way of knowing he would play for the West Indies, but I'm happy that he made it. I'm very happy for him. I just want him to continue to improve. He's doing what he loves."

Arleigh, an Auditor Two in the Auditor General's Department, had also journeyed to St Vincent back in 2009 when Kraigg was summoned from Kingston to Kingstown to join an under-strength regional squad, led by Floyd Reifer after the first-choice players went on strike in the home series versus Bangladesh.

Kraigg, then only 16 years old, wasn't selected in the final XI, which was a disappointment for the family as Arleigh's brother Charles and three sisters—Sheila, Yvonne and Ann—as well as Sheila's husband, Hugo, had also made the trip to St Vincent.

Arleigh said Kraigg had assured him that he was okay and wasn't nervous.

"When I spoke to him, he seemed very confident and didn't give me the impression that he was nervous. He is usually very cool. He is the type of person who just concentrates on what he has to do and without getting side-tracked," said the proud father.

Arleigh also revealed that whereas Kraigg--a sixth form student at Combermere School in Barbados--was able to sit the first part of his CAPE Management of Business examination in Guyana, he missed the second part on Thursday after the arrangements were not sorted out. 

Instead of being in the classroom, Kraigg, a holder of eight CXE certificates who has already been accepted to the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, was on the cricket field.

Arleigh said he would have preferred if the West Indies were the ones batting first.

"I wanted him to face the music early. The pitch looks easy-paced. Some of the guys are playing back foot shots on the up. Later on, it may get dusty and slow up but, with the quicker pace, it is better to start as the ball comes onto the bat, so he could play a couple of shots," Arleigh explained.

Only four other West Indians have made their Test debut at a younger age than Kraigg. They are Barbadians Derek Sealy (17 years, 122 days), Sir Garfield Sobers (17 years, 245 days) and Robin Bynoe (18 years, 31 days) and Trinidadian Jeffrey Stollmeyer (18 years, 90 days).

SPORTS EDITOR'S NOTE: Kraigg Brathwaite had his first knock in a Test match in the

West Indies first

innings yesterday.

He scored 15.