Pooran leads Red Force at Super50 Cup

WEST INDIES white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran will lead the 18-member Trinidad and Tobago Red Force team in their defence of the CG United Super50 Cup, which will be held in Trinidad and Antigua (including the semi-finals and final) from October 29 to November 19.

Pooran was at the helm of the WI squad's brief and disastrous ICC T20 World Cup campaign. The regional side failed to qualify to the Super 12 phase in Australia, after defeats to Scotland and Ireland.

According to sources close to the Red Force franchise, Pooran, who has been struggling with the bat, in both white-ball formats, since replacing Kieron Pollard as WI captain earlier this year, will have a number of experienced players at his disposal.

Among the experienced players he will rely on is star off-spinner Sunil Narine, who was absent in Australia.

Narine has not played for West Indies in over three years and according the West Indies selector Desmond Haynes, Pooran had conversations with the 34 year old about a return but it "seemed that he was not interested."

Also in the squad are Joshua Da Silva, Jason Mohammed, Evin Lewis, Jeremy Solozano, Darren Bravo, Shannon Gabriel, Yannic Cariah, Akeal Hosein and Imran Khan (who was the Red Force captain during the 2022 West Indies Four Day Championships).

Lewis, Cariah and Hosein were part of the West Indies T20 team in Australia.

Current WI Test fast bowlers Jayden Seales and Anderson Phillip were named in the Red Force team, as well as Kjorn Ottley, Jyd Goolie, Khary Pierre, Mark Deyal and Terrance Hinds.

The Red Force, under the leadership of Kieron Pollard, won the 2021 edition, which took place in Antigua. From the 2021 squad, Pollard, Lendl Simmons and Denesh Ramdin have all retired from international cricket, while Ravi Rampaul was overlooked.

This year’s Super50 Cup will feature eight teams – the traditional six franchises (Red Force, Guyana Harpy Eagles, Windward Islands Volcanoes, Leeward Islands Hurricanes, Barbados Pride and Jamaica Scorpions) as well as the West Indies Academy and the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC).

Cricket West Indies (CWI), in a media release issued on Sunday, said a few players from the WI T20 squad remained in Melbourne to prepare for the forthcoming two-Test series against Australia.

The Test squad is expected to be announced this week for the matches, which will take place at the Perth Stadium (November 30 to December 4) and Adelaide Oval (November 8-12).

The media release pointed out, “due to the returning T20 World Cup contingent, CWI will allow larger squads from the originally stipulated 14 players. However, this will only be applicable for the period prior to the departure of the West Indies Test team on November 8 when the franchises must revert to 14 players only.”