Simmons ‘happy’ to make Red Force return

SHERDON PIERRE

The TT Red Force have included star batsman Lendl Simmons in the squad for round seven of the West Indies Four-Day Regional Championship against the Barbados Pride from February 7-10 at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Under recently appointed head coach Mervyn Dillon, the Red Force ended their slump with a morale-boosting victory against table-toppers and defending champions Guyana Jaguars at the Queen`s Park Oval. It was just TT's second win of the current campaign.

Simmons, averaging 34.41 in first class cricket, will add much needed experience to the batting line-up, having played 94 matches at this level – even though he will be playing his first four-day match in over four years for Red Force. In his last innings at the Kensington Oval in 2013, Simmons, 34, cracked the fastest century in the tournament`s history off 50 balls.

Simmons said, “I am always happy to represent my country whenever I can. I still have a lot to offer and I will be looking forward to playing alongside the youngsters and hopefully they can learn from me.” Simmons has plied his trade in the various T20 leagues across the world mainly the Indian Premier League, Bangladesh Premier League, Big Bash League and Caribbean Premier League.

TT Red Force have been struggling this season with the bat as Jeremy Solozano is the lone centurion thus far in the five matches played. He leads the team with 338 runs, followed by Jason Mohammed (191) and Yannic Cariah (168). Imran Khan continues to shine with his all-round performances claiming 25 wickets and chipping in with 157 crucial runs.

Red Force Squad:

Denesh Ramdin (captain)

Joshua Da Silva

Jeremy Solozano

Lendl Simmons

Jason Mohammed

Yannic Cariah

Imran Khan

Odean Smith

Bryan Charles

Anderson Phillip

Khary Pierre

Daniel St. Clair

Ravi Rampaul

Coach – Mervyn Dillon

Assistant coach/manager – David Furlonge

Physio – Jason Pilgrim