Former West Indies fast bowler Tony Gray was hoping to see more new West Indian stars emerge from this year’s Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League.
But he yesterday, identified four with future potential— Kamil Pooran of the St Lucia Kings, Vitel Lawes of the Jamaica Kingsmen, Jakeem Pollard of the Barbados Tridents and Joshua James of the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons.
While wrist spinner Lawes and seam-bowling all-rounder James would have been involved in last night’s CPL final at Kensington Oval, Pooran would have been starting preparations for his trip to India for his first West Indies assignment as part of the T20 International squad for the five-match series next month.
Pooran’s selection came as a result of his displays opening the innings for the St Lucia Kings in what was his first season in the CPL.
“What I like about Kamil Pooran is that this is his first time at this franchise level and he’s come up trumps,” Gray told the Express. “He’s averaging 39.00 in the tournament this year, he’s played eight games; he missed two games because of injury and he’s shown that he’s not intimidated by big-name players.
“He batted well against the Knight Riders team, batted well against different teams and different international players.”
In addition to his healthy average, Pooran also managed an impressive strike rate of 159.64 batting in the crucial Powerplay overs. He also struck 33 fours to go along with his 13 sixes.
Pooran, however, was the only “breakout” batter that caught Gray’s eye. The other three impressed with the ball.
Lawes, already a senior West Indies player at 19, had taken nine wickets in 12 matches with his left-arm wrist spin before last night’s final against the Falcons. But Gray said he “looked the part.”
He added: “Liked the fact that he is excellent at dealing with pressure, not being overawed with big-name players coming after him. Seems to like the challenges, got some big names out this year.”
In contrast to Lawes who stands well below six feet, 18 year-old fast bowler Pollard is a six-footer whose skill and attributes also impressed Gray.
“Young Pollard is an excellent prospect,” he said. “He has the physicality that you want. He obviously would get stronger as he grows into his man’s strength, but he’s got pace, he has a very good bouncer, he can be intimidating.”
In his first CPL season, Pollard took four wickets at an economy rate of 7.68.
“We have to build the fast-bowling resources because we can’t depend on three fast bowlers alone,” Gray stressed. “We have to build a cadre of fast bowlers and to have somebody who is that tall, six-five, that strong and that young is great news, and he’s a left-arm pacer too.”
Tobagonian James does not have the pace of Pollard but the strapping, budding all-rounder bowled crucial spells to help the Falcons get to the final with 12 wickets.
“Joshua James has improved a lot in his bowling,” noted Gray. “It’s not illegal again and he has improved on his urgency when it comes to his run-up—too sluggish in the past—but he’s a good prospect. He could bowl faster in my opinion if he lengthens his run-up and he seems to have a lot more consistency this year and he’s learning different skills, so I definitely think that he is one for the future.”