PCL: Rampaul answers Red Force call for battle with Jaguars

Out-of-favour Windies fast bowler Ravi Rampaul has been selected in the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force squad to face Guyana Jaguars in the Cricket West Indies’ Professional Cricket League Regional Four-day tournament, which bowls off on Thursday (January 31) at Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain.

The 34-year-old last First-Class match was for Derbyshire against Northamptonshire six months ago in the Specsavers County Championship. Rampaul will bring experience to a team that is coming off a seven-wicket hammering from the Barbados Pride.

This match will be the first assignment for new coach Mervyn Dillon and assistant coach/manager David Furlonge, who took over after Kelvin Williams quit in the wake of the team’s third defeat this season.

Meanwhile, Jaguars will want to return to winning ways after suffering a two-wicket defeat at home to Hurricanes prior to the break last weekend; it was only their fourth defeat in the five seasons of the PCL.

Chances are good to turn the tide against a struggling Red Force unit who lay in the penultimate spot of the points table, which is headed by the four-time defending champions.

After five rounds, Jaguars are bossing the table with 85.6 points, 25.8 points more than the second place Hurricanes, while Red Force have 33 points in fifth spot.

When Red Force last hosted the Jaguars, they lost by an innings and 217 runs. Johnson and Vishaul Singh belted centuries after which spin twins Gudakesh Motie and Veerasammy Permaul, along with seamer Keemo Paul rocked the host’s batting.

Match time is 10:00h.

Red Force: Denesh Ramdin (Captain), Jeremy Solozano, Joshua Da Silva, Tion Webster, Yannic Cariah, Jason Mohammed, Imran Khan, Bryan Charles, Ravindarnath Rampaul, Daniel St. Clair, Anderson Phillip, Odean Smith, Khary Pierre. Management: David Furlonge (Manager/Assistant Coach), Mervyn Dillon (Head Coach) and Jason Pilgrim (Physio).

Jaguars: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Leon Johnson (captain), Vishaul Singh, Raymon Reifer, Anthony Bramble, Sherfane Rutherford, Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd, Clinton Pestano, Veerasammy Permaul, Christopher Barnwell, Gudakesh Motie. Management: Rayon Griffith (Head Coach), Shivanrine Chanderpaul (Assistant Coach) and Neil Barry (Physiotherapist).