CricViz analyst Freddie Wilde picks Barbados Tridents’ likely XI and identifies their strengths and weaknesses ahead of the 2020 CPL.
Likely XI
- Shai Hope – right-hander & wicket-keeper
- Johnson Charles – right-hander & wicket-keeper
- Justin Greaves – right-hander
- Jonathan Carter – left-hander
- Corey Anderson – left-hander
- Jason Holder – right-hander & right-arm fast medium
- Rashid Khan – right-hander & leg spin
- Mitchell Santner – left-hander & left-arm finger spin
- Ashley Nurse – right-hander & off spin
- Raymon Reifer – left-arm fast medium
- Hayden Walsh Jr – leg spin
Squad players: Sharmarh Brooks (right-hander), Nyeem Young (right-hander & right-arm medium fast – Emerging Player), Kyle Mayers (left-hander & right-arm medium), Shayan Jahangir (right-hander & right-arm medium), Joshua Bishop (left-arm finger spin – Emerging Player), Keon Harding (right-arm fast medium)
Strengths
Spin bowling
The Tridents’ spin attack of Rashid Khan, Mitchell Santner, Hayden Walsh Jr and Ashley Nurse is supreme. The attack will be led by Rashid – the world’s best T20 bowler and Santner – the world’s best T20 left-arm spinner. Walsh Jr was the leading wicket-taker in last year’s tournament while Nurse provides an off spin option meaning the Tridents have all three primary spin bowler-types covered. Additionally the quartet have the four phases of the innings well covered with Nurse being the only one who has not bowled often in the Powerplay phase across his career. The Tridents also have the exciting left-arm spinner Bishop in their squad who could further bolster the spin attack against rightie-heavy teams.
Solid top order
The Tridents’ top order is well set up to provide decent platforms with Johnson Charles – one of the CPL’s most consistent batsmen – likely to open alongside one of Shai Hope and Justin Greaves – two players known for their anchoring tendencies. Last season no team had a higher Powerplay balls per wicket or runs per wicket than the Tridents.
Batting depth
With Jonathan Carter, Corey Anderson, Jason Holder, Rashid and Santner likely to bat in the middle to lower order and Raymon Reifer, Ashley Nurse and Walsh Jr in the lower order the Tridents boast superb batting depth which should leave them well placed to capitalise on the solid starts provided by those above them. The middle order has a nice mix of right and left-handers which should help the Tridents exploit match-ups.
CRICVIZ PROFESSIONAL ANALYSIS
Weaknesses
Pace bowling
The Tridents’ glaring weakness is their pace bowling. Their primary pace bowlers are the captain Holder and the left-armer Reifer with right-arm medium pacer Kyle Mayers and the uncapped all rounder Nyeem Young waiting in the wings. Anderson could provide another pace option but his poor fitness record has seen a reduced workload with the ball in recent years. Reifer is an effective wicket-taking bowler but all three struggle to restrict run scoring which could leave the Tridents particularly exposed in the death over phase. The Tridents will be heavily reliant on their excellent spin attack to protect their quicks from punishment.
Batting lacks an elite performer
The Tridents’ batting is deep and has the potential to work well as a unit but their team is conspicuously lacking an elite T20 performer. Alex Hales – as well as Marcus Stoinis – were ruled out of the season and while Anderson has been destructive in the Blast for a number of years he has not made an impact in a major league for a while now. Unless he can rediscover those heights the Tridents batting order appears short on star quality with the likes of Charles a good but unspectacular performer and Hope struggling to crack the T20 format.
Right-hander heavy top order
The Tridents are likely to have three right-handers in their top order which could leave them vulnerable to left-arm finger spin and leg spin in the Powerplay.
Three overseas players
The Tridents are the only team in the CPL this year who are unable to fill their overseas quota for every match because they only have three overseas players in their squad. While their domestic players are relatively strong this does leave them at a disadvantage.
Freddie Wilde is a CricViz analyst. @fwildecricket
