Can spin, Test experience propel Red Force to four-day supremacy?

TT Red Force cricketers take part in a team training session a day ahead of their opening match against the Jamaican Scorpions of the CWI Regional Four-Day Championship, on Wednesday, at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba.  - ROGER JACOB
TT Red Force cricketers take part in a team training session a day ahead of their opening match against the Jamaican Scorpions of the CWI Regional Four-Day Championship, on Wednesday, at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba. - ROGER JACOB

THE TT Red Force will open their 2022 West Indies Four-Day Championship campaign against Jamaica Scorpions at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba at 10 am, on Wednesday.

It has been almost two years since the Red Force played a four-day match because of the covid19 pandemic.

The Red Force finished the 2019/2020 campaign in second position behind Barbados Pride. The final two rounds were cancelled because of the pandemic.

Red Force ended with three wins, two losses and three draws. Newsday breaks down the Red Force squad highlighting what can make the unit a competitive one and possibly break their title drought in four-day cricket after last lifting the trophy in the 2005/2006 season.

Can the Test quartet lead from the front?

The quartet of Shannon Gabriel, Jayden Seales, Joshua Da Silva and Jeremy Solozano should feature prominently for Red Force this season given their experience at Test level.

The quartet will be eager to impress to earn selection again on the Windies Test squad with England touring the Caribbean for a three-match Test series in March.

Gabriel, the backbone of the West Indies fast bowling attack for the past decade alongside Kemar Roach, will spearhead the Red Force bowling attack with his pace and experience. Gabriel will aim to stay healthy for 2022 as he has been injury prone during his career.

Seales, 20, has made an immediate impact with his accuracy after making his Test debut in 2021.

Believe it or not Seales has never played for Red Force in the four-day competition. He made his first class debut in December, 2020 for West Indies A against New Zealand A, before making his Test debut six months later.

Da Silva, a wicket-keeper and useful middle order batsman since joining the Test team in December 2020, is aiming to replicate the performance he had in the 2019/2020 four-day season.

Da Silva, expected to bat higher up the order for Red Force, finished as the fifth highest run scorer in the tournament with 507 runs at an average of 50.70. He struck one century and three fifties.

Da Silva has been given added responsibility as he will be the vice-captain this season.

Solozano, a left-handed opener, has been a member of the Red Force set up for almost ten years.

However, he is still looking for that breakthrough season.

Solozano will want to impress the Windies selectors after a brief Test debut. In his debut against Sri Lanka in November, 2021 he did not get the opportunity to bat.

Fielding at short leg he was struck on the helmet and suffered a concussion.

Can the spinners dominate?

The Red Force spin attack is a well balanced one with loads of experience with the likes of captain Imran Khan, Khary Pierre and Bryan Charles in the squad.

Part-time spinners Jason Mohammed and Yannic Cariah may also prove to be key members of the Red Force.

Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein is now featuring prominently for the West Indies One Day International (ODI) and T20 teams and it gives other spinners the opportunity to deliver. Hosein was the joint second leading wicket taker in the 2019/2020 season with 36 wickets.

Leg spinner Khan, 37, has one of the most impressive resumes among active four-day players in the region with 423 wickets in 105 first class matches. Khan can also chip in with the bat with one century and 14 fifties to his name.

Charles, a former West Indies Under-19 spinner, is eager to unleash new variations he has been working on during the pandemic.

In a recent interview with Newsday he said, “I have been doing a lot of work on my batting, as well as a few variations in my bowling, as well as some fitness work to really maintain (my fitness) because we were not really sure when the cricket will be starting.”

Pierre brings more variety to the team’s spin attack with his left-arm spin.

Pierre, who played a few ODIs and T20s for West Indies in the past, will try to fill the void that his childhood friend Hosein has left.

Can the young crop deliver?

The trio of former West Indies Under-19 players Keagan Simmons (22), Jyd Goolie (24) and Kirstan Kallicharan (22) are in the squad.

The team is filled with left-handed batsmen with Simmons and Goolie among them.

Simmons has just three first-class matches under his belt, but has shown signs that he has the quality to continue the tradition of the Simmons family.

Simmons, a relative of West Indies head coach Phil Simmons and player Lendl Simmons, already has a score of 89 in his short first-class career.

Goolie, a former West Indies Under-19 World Cup winner in 2016, has shown glimpses that he has the ability to succeed.

In four first-class matches, Goolie has already scored a century (128) and will be anxious to cement his spot on the team.

Kallicharan, Goolie’s West Indies Under-19 team-mate, has demonstrated his appetite for runs in the Red Force trial matches over the past two years.

The child batting prodigy, who broke a long standing school record held by Brian Lara years ago, is trying to make the transition to senior level. Kallicharan has not played any first class cricket.

Kallicharan and Simmons should have chemistry as they played for national junior teams simultaneously throughout their childhood.

Are Mohammed, Cariah pivotal to the Red Force batting?

Mohammed, 35, and Cariah, 29, are two of the most seasoned batsmen in the Red Force line up.

Some would say Mohammed and Cariah have not lived up to their potential with first-class averages of 29.94 and 26.85 respectively.

However, the pair has 147 first-class matches between them and their experience may be crucial in a relatively youthful batting line up.

In 83 first-class matches, Mohammed has scored over 4,000 runs which includes 11 centuries and 15 half centuries.

Cariah has 2,578 runs to his name with four centuries and nine half centuries.

In the 2019/2020 season, Mohammed was the second best Red Force batsman behind Da Silva with 424 runs in 11 innings at an average of 42.40 (two centuries, one half century).

Cariah struggled to find consistency amassing 186 runs at an average of 37.20 in six innings. He achieved a top score of 100 not out, but his other five innings were only worth 86 runs.

RED FORCE SQUAD

Imran Khan (captain), Joshua Da Silva (vice-captain), Jeremy Solozano, Keagan Simmons, Jyd Goolie, Jason Mohammed,

Yannic Cariah, Khary Pierre, Terrance Hinds, Anderson Phillip, Jayden Seales, Isaiah Rajah, Kirstan Kallicharan, Bryan Charles, Shannon Gabriel

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