Red Force coach satisfied as Jyd Goolie, Kirstan Kallicharan selected in 2021-2022 draft

TT RED Force selected former West Indies Under-19 players Jyd Goolie and Kirstan Kallicharan in the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Professional Cricketers Draft on Tuesday for the 2021-2022 season.

Red Force retained 13 players before the draft. The 15-member Red Force squad will aim for strong performances in the forthcoming year which may include the West Indies Four-Day Championship and the CG Insurance Super50 tournament. Both tournaments are tentative because of the covid19 pandemic.

Goolie and Kallicharan were both part of the West Indies Under-19 team that won the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2016. Goolie, 24, is a left-handed batsman and an occasional off-spinner.

Kallicharan, 21, is a right-handed batsman and a part-time leg-spinner.

Speaking to Newsday following the draft, Red Force coach David Furlonge was satisfied with the two additions to the team. “We think their potential is good. Jyd scored a hundred in the last (four-day) game for Trinidad and Tobago in 2020, so that shows he has the ability to bat at that level and perform.”

Discussing Kallicharan, Furlonge said, “The only new one I would say at that level is Kallicharan. He played some 50-over games for the West Indies A team in the 50-over tournament (in the past). At First Class level, he has no experience, but he is young player…we looked at his performance in the recent trials that went by where he scored a 100 and a 99. Finally (he is) producing what we know that he is capable of so now it is (time) to do the work with him and get him to perform at the higher level also.”

Although national teams are allowed to train, the Red Force will not do so, in the immediate future, because of the rising covid19 cases and deaths in TT.

Speaking on the final squad, Furlonge said, “I think we have a balanced team. We have seven (or eight) batsmen and then in that we have fellas like Imran Khan, Khary Pierre who scored a hundred regionally, Terrance Hinds who scored a hundred regionally so we have three good all-rounders there.”

Furlonge said the fast bowlers are Anderson Phillip, Jayden Seales and Uthman Muhammed, who will add variety to the potent spin attack of Bryan Charles, Khan and Pierre. The experienced batting pair of Jason Mohammed and Denesh Ramdin will lead the batting alongside Isaiah Rajah, Jeremy Solozano and Keagan Simmons. All-rounder Tion Webster completes the squad.

TT RED FORCE SQUAD: Bryan Charles, Terrance Hinds, Imran Khan, Anderson Phillip, Khary Pierre, Jason Mohammed, Uthman Muhammed, Isaiah Rajah, Denesh Ramdin, Jayden Seales, Keagan Simmons, Jeremy Solozano, Tion Webster, Jyd Goolie, Kirstan Kallicharan.

OTHER DRAFTED PLAYERS –

Guyana Jaguars: Anthony Bramble, Keon Joseph

Barbados Pride: Akeem Jordan, Joshua Bishop

Leeward Islands Hurricanes: Nino Henry, Daniel Doram

Jamaica Scorpions: Nicholson Gordon, Alwyn Williams

Windward Islands Volcanoes: Darium Martin, Gilon Tyson