'The more fun I get, the better I perform' - Kesrick Williams

Kesrick Williams may achieve many things in cricket and life but he'll always be the man at the receiving end of one of the game's great revenge sledges. It began with Williams dismissing Chadwick Walton and signing him off with an extravagant gesture. It ended in the next game between the two sides when Walton hit him for two sixes and three fours, each boundary followed by his own version of the sign-off, autographing his bat rather than his hand, as Williams had done. It's best watched here.

The entire sequence was so pointed that it's a surprise to learn Williams and Walton have actually been close friends since their university days. The CPL incident was actually a continuation of something that happened between them in the nets some years ago.

"Chadwick is one my closest friends in cricket," Williams tells ESPNcricinfo. "We went to university together. We have played together and against each other. It has been a running battle between us for the last four years. Once in the nets the day before Christmas, I hit him right on the crest of his helmet, and I told him Merry Christmas. Ever since that day he said he'd get me back."

But Williams wants you to know he isn't just about fun and games. He wants you to know about his main job, that of a fast bowler who has developed himself into a fine T20 commodity in the last three years with an extensive bag of tricks. In July this year, he picked up 4 for 28 against Bangladesh, the best figures in a T20I career that has fetched him 30 wickets at an average of 17.53 in 18 matches. After the Bangladesh T20Is, Williams had another good CPL season. It didn't yield him as many wickets as his first two CPL seasons, but he says it was just as rewarding.

"I bowled in the CPL in areas that I really wanted to bowl. In the first year of the CPL, I got 17 wickets, in the second year I got 15 wickets and this year I got nine wickets. I have been bowling well ever since the Bangladesh series. My confidence is up so it is about keeping it at this level and moving forward."

Williams says it has helped his performance when a team has treated him well and given him importance. "The more wickets I get, the more confident I feel," he says. "People don't realise that when I feel like the go-to man in a team, it makes me feel important. Every player likes to feel a certain way. When I can laugh with a team, I feel part of the unit.

"I got back the same feeling when I got 4-28 against Bangladesh [earlier this year]. I am happy, dancing and smiling with everyone and that's how I go about playing my cricket."

One of the things that a fast bowler has to master is bowling in the subcontinent, and Williams certainly has developed his own method to bowl in tournaments like the BPL. He says he has even found a unique way to get his mind off the difficulty of bowling in Bangladeshi conditions.

"I love playing in Bangladesh. The fans in a way take your mind off the batting-friendly wickets. Even though T20 is a batting game, they want you to do well.

"For me, variation is the key in the sub-continent. You can't bowl at one pace. I had a great first year but my second year was harder because everybody started to read me and find out what and how I do things. So if I am going to play the BPL next year, I have the confidence."

Williams has certainly come a long way from his early days in St Vincent where he grew up in a cricketing family. "My parents played a lot of cricket," he says. "I watched my mum and sister play for St Vincent women's team. My uncles played cricket when I was growing up.

"I used to be a batter in my age-group years, till the U19s. I used to emulate Michael Joseph, a former U-19 batsman from St Vincent around that time. One day when I was jokingly running in and bowling fast in the nets, the coach liked it."

One of Williams' trademarks on the cricket field is his selfie celebration, which he says began in the 2016 BPL in which he took eight wickets at 14.12.

"In the first year in BPL, I didn't have any celebrations," he says. "I remember that after taking a wicket, I went to the side of the pitch and I pretended to take a picture. Next day I am in the newspaper with my selfie celebrations. If I can celebrate six times for your team, then definitely I am doing well.

"It has been all fun. I think my performance speaks for itself but people also know me for my celebrations. The more fun I get, the better I perform. My celebrations are a brand that I want to develop. I will do different celebrations in different tournaments that people will love."

After two good BPL seasons for Rajshahi Kings, Williams is likely to be picked up in the draft on Sunday. The team that will pick him will know that with Williams comes an effective bowler who can mix it up with his variations, and can get his slower balls to grip on the Mirpur pitches. The package would also include his celebrations and the smiles he will bring to his team's supporters.