BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – West Indies all-rounder Raymon Reifer is set to play his first-ever first class game in a Barbados Pride shirt after being named in a 13-member squad for the opening round fixture against Leeward Islands Hurricanes starting here next month.
The 30-year-old, who has spent every season of the Professional Cricket League franchise system with multiple-time champions Guyana Jaguars, is part of a squad led by West Indies Test skipper Kraigg Brathwaite and which includes out-of-favour Test gloveman Shane Dowrich.
Batsman Jonathan Drakes, 27, is the only inclusion who is uncapped at first class level, even though he has already played 15 games in the shorter format.
Reifer, who played a single Test four years ago and the last of his five One-Day Internationals 13 months ago, has been a pivotal cog in the wheel of Jaguars’ success which saw them win five titles on the trot.
A solid left-hander who bowls steady left-arm seam, Reifer endured a lean opening season when he scored 227 runs and took just eight wickets but in the second PCL season, he gathered nearly 300 runs and snared 22 wickets.
Perhaps his best season came in the 2016-17 campaign when the Barbadian amassed 445 runs at an average of 37 and spearheaded the pace attack to finish with 36 wickets at 21 runs apiece.
He struck his only hundred during the 2017-18 season – an unbeaten 108 against Trinidad and Tobago in Georgetown when he also picked up a five-wicket haul as Jaguars won by an innings.
His first class debut came for Combined Campuses and Colleges back in 2011.
Reifer’s last game in a Jaguars shirt saw him unveil a magnificent unbeaten 97 against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in a losing cause during last year’s Super50 Cup. Dowrich, meanwhile, will be making his first competitive appearance since he abruptly left West Indies’ tour of New Zealand 14 months ago for personal reasons.
The right-hander, who has scored three hundreds in 35 Tests and averages 29, was among the runs for Pride in the last first class campaign staged before the COVID-19 pandemic, scoring 360 runs as they won the tournament after the last two rounds were scrapped.
Pride’s opening match is carded for February 9-12 at Kensington Oval.
SQUAD – Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Jonathan Carter, Shane Dowrich, Jonathan Drakes, Justin Greaves, Keon Harding, Chemar Holder, Chaim Holder, Akeem Jordan, Shayne Moseley, Raymon Reifer, Shamar Springer, Jomel Warrican.
