Injury to Simmonds opens door to fellow pacer Jediah Baldes

Barbados Pride have been forced to make a change to their 13-member squad for the first match of the revamped Regional Four-day First-class Championship.

Jediah Baldes, the rookie left-arm seamer, has been called up to replace Ramon Simmonds, another fledging left-arm pacer.

It was a like-for-like replacement, said chairman of selectors Hendy Broomes.

The need to make the change came after Simmonds complained about discomfort in his hip.

Blades has played three One-Day Internationals and six T20 Internationals for the West Indies but is yet to represent Barbados. He is expected to debut in the first match at Chedwin Park starting on April 12, three days before his 24th birthday.

The second and third matches will be played at Sabina Park on April 19 to 22 and then April 26 to 29.

“Ramon is one of the very good young fast bowlers we have here in the Barbados set-up and it is really tough that he can’t make the upcoming trip to Jamaica. He was bowling really well in the build-up but, unfortunately, he is now unavailable due to this injury. We want to wish him well with his rehabilitation,” Broomes told NATIONSPORT yesterday.

‘Impressive’

“This opened the door for Jediah, and we welcome him to the travelling squad. He has played at the regional level before in all three formats and has also played for West Indies in white ball cricket – at home and overseas – so he has experience and should be able to move seamlessly into the Barbados Pride system.

“He is another one of the good young players in the system. He was impressive in the recent trials. We had several others who were also impressive in the trials, but with Blades being a left-arm quick bowler, we see him as a like-for-like replacement for Simmonds; we see him as the ideal replacement.”

The players will assemble next week for training sessions before they travel to Kingston on Thursday, April 9. They will then have two days in the nets before the start of the opening match.

Last year, Barbados defeated Jamaica at Kensington Oval and finished second in the tournament, being narrowly edged out by Guyana Harpy Eagles. The seven-match tournament went down to the final hour of play as teams pursued the Headley/Weekes Trophy and the top purse of US$250 000.

CWI described its decisions to revamp and reduce the number of regional four-day first-class matches as “part of CWI’s broader strategy to strengthen player pathways, improve performance outcomes, and ensure the sustainable management of resources across regional cricket”.

FULL SQUAD

Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Joshua Bishop, Leniko Boucher, Shian Brathwaite, Johann Layne, Kyle Mayers, Jair McAllister, Shayne Moseley, Jediah Blades, Shamar Springer, Jomel Warrican, Kevin Wickham; Vasbert Drakes (head coach) TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: Bi-Lateral Round: Match 1 – April 12 to 15 Match 2 – April 19 to 22 Match 3 – April 26 to 29 Windward Volcanoes vs Guyana Harpy Eagles in Antigua Jamaica Scorpions vs Barbados Pride in Jamaica Leeward Islands Hurricanes vs Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in Antigua Play-off Round: (May 10 to 13)

2nd place vs 3rd place in Antigua 1st place vs West Indies Academy in Antigua Grand Final: (May 17 to 20 – 1st place vs play-off winner in Antigua. (PS)

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