Will Kieran Powell become the first cricket player to make the major leagues?
Will Kieran Powell become the first cricket player to make the major leagues? (Getty Images)

25-year-old cricket player and West Indies native Kieran Powell is hoping to make the leap from his lifelong sport of cricket to baseball -- professional baseball. As the New York Times notes, Powell has been in a baseball immersion program for the last several months, and he's already worked out for the Mets (twice) and Brewers. Speaking of which ... 

On Wednesday, he auditioned in front of 12 teams ... 

And here's some footage of Powell taking one of his left-handed cuts in Florida last month ... 

According to Australia's The Age, Powell hasn't played cricket at the international level since June of 2014, largely because of a dispute with West Indies cricket officials. Thus, his current focus on baseball. 

Despite some structural similarities between the two sports, retooling a cricket swing into a baseball swing is no easy thing, but by the looks of things Powell is making good progress on that front. Consider Powell a longshot to reach the majors, but he remains an elite athlete now devoting himself fully to the sport of baseball. Don't be surprised if some team takes a flyer on him. They may even wind up with a useful and pioneering major-leaguer.