Jermaine Lawson took a Test hat-trick against Australia, now he's playing for USA Jermaine Lawson celebrates his wicket of Brett Lee back in 2003. Picture: Phil Hillyard. A little over a decade ago, Jermaine Lawson took a hat-trick against Australia. Just a few months earlier he had burst onto the international scene, catching the eye as a classic West Indies pace bowler - tall, long-limbed and with a need for speed. Aged just 21, he had a huge cricketing future ahead of him, with many expecting him to be the torchbearer for the new generation of Windies quicks after the retirements of legends Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose. Now, with West Indies cricket eating itself alive, Lawson is nowhere to be seen. Jermaine Lawson in action during his final Test match, against Australia at the Gabba in 2005. Or more specficially, if you do want to see him your best chance is to fly to New York City. Lawson now lives in The Big Apple and has been a regular on the New York weekend cricket scene for the past four years, according to an article in the New York Times. Amazingly, rather than curtail his career the move to the United States has actually thrown Lawson back into international cricket. A fortnight ago, Lawson made his debut for the USA national side. He picked up three wickets against Bermuda, and went on to play two more games for the Stars and Stripes later that week, against Malaysia and Nepal - all matches between nations in division three of the ICC's World Cricket League. Jermaine Lawson used to rub shoulders with cricket royalty, including the "Prince of Trinidad" Brian Lara. The US might have finished fifth in the six-team league, below the likes of Uganda and Singapore, but perhaps the greatest story to emerge from the tournament was the resurrection of Lawson. His international career had become a classic cautionary tale in the perils of having a dodgy bowling action - a story that has seen its relevance skyrocket as the ICC's anti-chucker crusade has claimed several high-profile victims over the past few months. It wasn't long after his heroics against Australia - he took 7-78 in the final Test of that series - that Lawson drew the ire of umpires and had his bowling action reported. He was later cleared to return to international cricket after having remedial work done to his action, but was once again reported in 2005. Jermaine Lawson's bowling action was reported on several occasions. That, combined with a run of injuries saw him fade from the public eye. He played his last Test match at the Gabba in 2005, and was last seen in first-class cricket during a stint with English side Leicestershire in 2008. Now the Jamaican is making his mark in an entirely new cricketing frontier. Ironically while Lawson was making his debut for the US, the West Indies national team was in the midst of pulling out of its tour of India, a decision which some fear could ruin cricket in the Caribbean forever. So while those superstars now face the possibility of being barred from international cricket, their erstwhile former colleague is suddenly one of the few West Indies cricketers with a bright future ahead of him. Read the article from the New York Times here. Originally published as From Test hat-trick to New York cricket