At the start of 2020, Jermaine Blackwood seemed an unlikely candidate to make the ESPN Cricinfo Test team of the Year.

But through his stubborn determination, persistence and hard work, the Jamaican batsman was able to achieve the feat.

Blackwood, who earned a West Indies recall in July after an enterprising four-day season for Jamaica, played two of the most entertaining Test innings of the year — a match-winning 95 in England, and a counter-punching 104 in New Zealand.

His 427 runs scored across those two series at 42.70 saw him slotted in the middle order of the XI, which includes England’s Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Stuart Broad.

Also named in the team are New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson, Australia’s Nathan Lyon, as well as Shan Masood and Babar Azam, both of Pakistan.

While he takes being listed among the top players for last year in strides, Blackwood has no intentions of dwelling on the past, and has already refocused his attention on the next assignment —the tour of Bangladesh later this month.

“I am very honoured and humbled to be selected in the men’s Test team of the year, that is a big cricketing achievement and I am very proud of myself. But to be honest, I wasn’t really thinking about any of that, I was just playing cricket, trying to score runs and win games for my team.

“Coming back into the team, I was able to score some runs and show some good consistency across the board in those two series that I played, so it’s a good feeling,” he noted.

“But this is a new year, so I am just going to stick to my process and continue to work hard and stay positive. I am going on tour with a plan and I intend to execute my plan,” Blackwood told the Jamaica Observer.

The aggressive right-hander, who first broke into the West Indies Test squad in June 2014, will also enter the two Test series against Bangladesh with another major milestone to celebrate.

He was named vice-captain to Barbadian Kraigg Brathwaite, who will lead the 15-man team in the absence of Jason Holder and Roston Chase, who opted out of the tour for COVID-19-related and personal reasons.

For some, the new role and responsibility would come with additional pressure, but for Blackwood, it is another step in the right direction and further motivation to continue performing efficiently.

“It is another good achievement for me, I didn’t really think I was going to be named vice-captain of the West Indies team, so it’s a big plus, but there is no additional pressure. I just want to think about moving forward, it’s a new year, new opportunities and new battles to face and Bangladesh is going to be the first one,” Blackwood reasoned.

“So as I said, I am just going to stick to my process, continue putting in the hard work and once I do that, I know it will pay off. I am not a guy that set goals and plan for a tour, I just try to bat as long as possible and score as much runs and that’s what I want to do this year and once I do that I know the team is going to benefit,” he added.

Blackwood, 29, believes the 15 players selected for the tour are all capable of holding their own, and as such, is rating their chances of topping Bangladesh highly, despite missing other experience players such as Darren Bravo, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer and Shamarh Brooks, who all pulled out for similar reasons to Holder’s and Chase’s.

As such, he is backing compatriot Nkrumah Bonner and others who have been waiting in the wings to capitalise on the opportunity should they be selected in the starting team.

“I still think we have a good team; it is just for these guys who are coming in to just grab the opportunity because you have some guys who have been waiting for so long like Bonner, who went to England and New Zealand and was around the set up for a little while.

“So I think now is a good opportunity for him to get selected in the final team because he was previously in the reserve. So I am very happy for him and I know he will grab this with both hands once he gets the opportunity to play,” Blackwood shared.

“But I think we have a very good team and we only need to execute accordingly. It doesn’t matter who represent the West Indies, I think once we can pull ourselves together, work hard and execute the plans, I have no doubt that we are going to win this series,” the diminutive batsman declared.

Finally, Blackwood pointed out that he is also eyeing a return to the regional side’s One-day International (ODI) set up, having only paraded his skill in that format twice against Sri Lanka in 2015.

“For sure, if it [opportunity] presents itself I am going to take it, but for now I am just going to focus on Test Cricket. I always tell myself once I score runs, I am going to play some ODIs, and so I am just waiting on that opportunity to come.

“But I am just focusing on Test and to continue scoring runs. So I am just being humble and grounded and wait until that comes,” he ended.