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
