Goolie, Pierre earn Red Force call-up

Goolie, the 19-yearold First Citizens Clarke Road left-handed batsman and off-spinner, and Pierre, a seasoned campaigner with 2016 champions Queen’s Park, were included in a squad for 13 for the matches against the Windward Islands Volcanoes from November 11-14 (a day/night affair) and Barbados Pride from November 18-21 — both at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair.

Yannick Ottley has been retained as captain, while Jason Mohammed, who lost both the captaincy and his place on the four-day team during the 2015-2016 campaign (the Red Force finished fourth with 81 points), was recalled by the selection panel, headed by ex-national and West Indies left-arm spinner Raphick Jumadeen.

Mohammed led the West Indies A team to a 3-0 sweep over Sri Lanka A in the three unofficial One Day International series last week, a squad which included Barbadian opener Kyle Hope and off-spinner Jon-Russ Jagessar. Both Hope and Jagessar had consistent returns for the Red Force last season and were chosen on the 13-man squad.

Draft picks Sheldon Cottrell, the ex-Jamaica and West Indies fast bowler, and Barbadian all-rounder Roshon Primus, were also picked, as well as batsmen Jeremy Solozano and Yannic Cariah, leg-spinning allrounder Imran Khan, pacer Marlon Richards and wicket-keeper Steven Katwaroo.

Former captain Rayad Emrit and opening batsman Evin Lewis were unavailable for selection - Emrit will feature in the forthcoming Bangladesh Premier League while Lewis will be part of the West Indies team for the tri-nation series involving hosts Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. Goolie, when contacted yesterday, said, “I’ve put in a lot of hard work into it.

For the trial games I’ve scored very (consistently) and I feel very great being part of the senior team this time around.” While Goolie has been productive with the bat, he has hardly featured with the ball during the trial matches.

“Mostly I’ve been focusing a lot on my batting lately,” he said. “I haven’t really had the chance to put in the work (with the ball). Before the competition starts, I’ll try to (work on) both batting and bowling.” Goolie is ensuring that he is familiar with use of the pink ball, ahead of the Volcanoes encounter.

“We’ve been doing lots of practices, for a week now, with the pink ball,” he stated. “It’s a bit different from the red ball. It swings a little more.” However, Goolie is expected to head to Australia later this year to embark on a scholarship at the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy in Adelaide.

Asked if the selectors were aware of his impending stint in Australia, Goolie replied, “I think they are aware of me going to Australia so I think things will work out from there.” Goolie also praised the support he has received from both his family and club, during his progression from the junior to the senior ranks.

Red Force team - Yannick Ottley (captain), Jeremy Solozano, Kyle Hope, Yannic Cariah, Jason Mohammed, Jyd Goolie, Steven Katwaroo, Imran Khan, Roshon Primus, Marlon Richards, Khary Pierre, Jon-Russ Jagessar, Sheldon Cottrell