The 2021 Caribbean Premier League is swiftly approaching and with it comes opportunities for young local talent to make a name for themselves. One such talent who should be presented with that platform is Nial Smith.
Tall, talented, quick, aggressive and hungry are just some of the words used to describe the New Amsterdam native who surged to regional recognition in the 2020 Regional First-Class season.
With the Guyana Amazon Warriors looking to fill six slots when the draft unfolds later this month, Smith could find himself within the mix.
He has easily been identified as one of the shinning lights on the local scene and could be the perfect partner for his club mate, Romario Shepherd and Afghanistan paceman, Naveen-Ul-Haq.
His exploits could also fill the void left by Keemo Paul who was released by the franchise ahead of the draft.
Smith has already captured the eyes of Cricket West Indies’ chairman of selectors and former Warriors coach, Roger Harper who has continuously spoken highlight of soft-spoken fast bowler.
“I’ve seen players who have the potential to become quality players,” said Harper. The same Nial Smith, there is something about him. I saw him in the one-day tournament in 2019, I wasn’t that really impressed with what I saw there and then I saw him in the Four-Day tournament and he seemed to have improved leaps and bounds,” Harper said on a recent radio programme.
Harper indicated that players have also spoken about the skillset of the pace bowler and he has been selected in the West Indies ‘Best v Best’ 30-man West Indies training squad.
“Talking to other players they speak of the nip he gets off the pitch, a little bit of zip, a little bit of skid, does something with the ball as well, and able to work with the old ball so I think he has what it takes…” Harper said.
The 26-year-old, who plays for Tucber Park in the Berbice Cricket Board tournaments, made his mark with the best figures by a Guyanese pacer on debut in first-class cricket. The seamer picked up 6-55 in his first outing against Leeward Islands Hurricanes including the wickets of former West Indies Test batsman, Kieran Powell and out of favour limited overs batsman, Devon Thomas.
Since then, Smith has captured 20 wickets in his seven first-class matches at an average of 29.3 while in List A cricket he has also played seven matches and returned nine wickets at an economy rate of 5.28 and an average of 28.
Ahead of the draft, Amazon Warriors have retained 11 players including Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Shepherd, Ul-Haq, Imran Tahir, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Brandon King, Kevin Sinclair, Ashmead Nedd, Anthony Bramble and Odean Smith. The tournament will begin on August 28 and solely in St. Kitts and Nevis.
