For WI fans, CPL should be about scouting players and training our main WI batsmen.
So far, Ramdin has been good. Smith is also doing well, but we know he is an international failure. Gayle has been doing okay and might turn the heat on when it matters in a few days time. We have to reserve judgement on him. Pollard, like Gayle, might turn it on soon as well.
The much hyped Blackwood hasn't done much, though this is probably good. We're looking for test players, not mad sloggers.
Holder I like. My gut tells me he has much promise. He's batting well and I wish he'd bowl for WI in all formats.
But let's compare all our "established" bowlers in this CPL. Sheldon Cottrell and Shannon Gabriel are doing better than Holder. Cottrell has taken 10 wickets in 9 games, Gabriel has taken 6 wickets in 3 games and Holder 7 wickets in 9 games. All are conceding about 6 runs an over.
Meanwhile, Ravi Rampaul took 18 wickets in 9 games at about 7 an over and Kevon Cooper, 12 wickets in 9 games, again at about 7 an over. Jerone Taylor has done okay as well, but very expensive. Same for Fidel Edwards and Andre Russell. Santokie is even worse than all these guys, giving away 8 runs an over, though he is the leading wicket taker (13 wks) after Rampaul.
Narine and Badree, of course, lead the pack; they pick up wickets and their economy rates are sexy. Meanwhile, Sulieman Benn and Shillingford have done nothing of note.
This all tells us something we already knew: Badree, Narine and Rampaul are our best limited over bowlers. They take wickets and keep the run rate down. They should be on every WI ODI and T20 team.
As usual, Dwayne Bravo and Darren Bavo disappoint. Both had one great innings each, but have otherwise been mediocre.
Simmons has done well. He is, so far, the top run scorer of this SCP, with Evin Lewis close behind. Both are reliable top order batsmen who can lay a platform, give you 60-70 runs, but have serious accelleration problems. Both struggle to strike above 130. A T20 team might be better off having 2 openers striking at 250 and getting out at 30. Either way, both might be good in ODI cricket.
Barnwell I like, but I dont know if he can cut it the international stage.
Johnson Charles has been atrocious.
Andre Russell is a much better bowler now. Seems smarter and can York on command. Haven seen much of his batting this CPL.
Fletcher's got demonic eyes. This dude scares me, but I believe he's the 4th highest run scorer in this CPL.
Pooran is like a little bottle of dynamite.
