CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC- South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis will join the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel in St Lucia tomorrow ahead of their opening match of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Sunday against the Zouks, manager Colin Borde has confirmed.
Borde said the inclusion of other international players, the likes of Cameron Delport and Johan Botha also from South Africa and Pakistan’s Kamran Akmal, will add strength to the Red Steel.
“I think we have gotten more experience players in,” Borde said in an interview with the Express.
“With the inclusion of Kallis, Akmal, Delport and Botha we have now strengthened in terms of flexibility in terms of the batting orders and certainly in terms of support for the captain in terms of experience and versatility.”
Red Steel has already started preparations for the third installment of the CPL which runs from June 20th to July 26th.
Borde, who has been with the Red Steel since the inaugural CPL, believes feels the T&T-based franchise has the right formula for success this season.
“We have four spinners in young Derone Davis, Botha, Samuel Badree and Sulieman Benn and we also have Jason Mohammed if needed,” he said.
“So we have some flexibility in terms of the batting order, the bowling options and we have experience so I think we have the right formula for success”.
The Red Steel Manager is also predicting that this season will be the most competitive since the start of the CPL.
He says after two seasons teams have done their homework and have strengthened their outfits.
“I think the coaches have understood that playing in the Caribbean presents a different style of cricket and I think all of the teams have done their homework,” Borde explained.
“Two seasons have gone and the teams have gotten smarter in terms of the way they play the game and I think this year is going to be very competitive”.
The CPL bowls off on Sunday with defending champions the Barbados Tridents taking on last year’s runners-up Guyana Amazon Warriors.
