A muscular, fast 22-year old Shannon Gabriel made his debut for Trinidad & Tobago in 2010 and quickly became an integral part of their pace attack. He first came to notice when he was picked up for a stint at the Sagicor West Indies Cricket High Performance Centre, founded by the West Indies Cricket Board to improve the quality of young cricketers between the ages of 19 to 27. Gabriel was one of the 15 players selected for that venture.

Gabriel played 14 first class matches for T&T in the 2010/2011 season picking up 33 wickets. His best performance in the season came in a match against Combined Campuses and Colleges, where he bagged 7 wickets. His solid outings in the domestic circuit won him a place in the squad for the 2011 Champions League T20. He was later named in West Indies’ Test squad for the England tour in 2012. He made his Test match debut against England at Lords in May 2012. However, he was unimpressive in that match and was sent home after complaining of back trouble.