He may be the youngest player in the ICC East Asia Pacific T20 Qualifying finals, but young Kepler Lukies enjoying every moment representing his country on the international stage here in Papua New Guinea (PNG). At just only 16 years of age, the Katamitite based lad has represented his country of the Philippines in five T20 matches, making his debut early this year during the South East Asian Games (SEA) that was held in Cambodia in May this year. “It’s my second time to represent the Philippines, prior to this we were in Cambodia for the SEA Games, but this is my first time to play in an ICC event.” Young Lukies told PNG Hausbung that he started playing at the age of 4, joking that he had done so due to the local junior team needing one more player to make up the team. “I started when I was 4 just filling in just because we were short in number in the under 12’s. Because Dad was coach,” he said. In his outing against the PNG Barras, the young man claimed the crucial wicket of Assadollah Vala in their face off on Match day 2, putting up a splendid performance against the home side with the ball claiming 2 wickets. Kepler commented that he was amazed by the crowd that attended their match against the Barras, adding that it was a great experience for him, and both he and Tim are very lucky to be given the opportunity to be here in the country for this event. “This was the best crowd I’ve ever played in front of,” he said. Accompanied by his father, Tim, who has been by his side since the beginning of the series, watching from the sidelines and cheering young Kepler through every match. When speaking to PNG Hausbung, Tim Lukies expressed pride in seeing Kepler rise to the top in professional cricket, stating that he is very grateful for his son to be given an opportunity to play at the top stage. “I’m very proud of him and very happy for Philippines Cricket for giving him the opportunity in doing so and Papua New Guinea for putting on this tournament to give him an opportunity to do what he’s doing,” he said. “It’s very positive for Papua New Guinea Cricket. You see little kids running around after the matches with bat and ball in hand, and in the future PNG Cricket will get stronger.” Even though they have not had the best of success in this series, the lad is happy to be playing for the Philippines and hopes to continue to do so in the coming years.