The Dolphins’ T20 campaign has been boosted by the signing of West Indian fast bowler Fidel Edwards, who arrived in Durban yesterday.
It’s likely that the Barbadian will practise with his new teammates today, and spearhead their attack in the Dolphins’ MiWay T20 Challenge match against the Warriors at Kingsmead on Friday (6pm).
The 30-year-old strike bowler with the slinging action will be officially unveiled at Kingsmead later today.
The Dolphins have enjoyed a good start to their T20 campaign, winning three of their first four matches, but their attack lacks a bowler of genuine pace. Edwards, who has taken 154 Test wickets and 60 wickets in ODIs, will surely fill that gap.
Edwards, nicknamed “Castro”, is the latest in a long line of West Indian players who have played for the Dolphins, including Collis King, Hartley Alleyne, Malcolm Marshall, Nixon McLean and Eldine Baptiste.
Chris Gayle is, of course, a member of that august group, but he has yet to play for the Dolphins due to a grade two groin strain that he picked up in Bangladesh shortly before arriving in Durban 10 days ago.
Healing
The chief executive of the KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union, Jesse Chellan, gave an update on the Jamaican’s condition yesterday, announcing that Gayle had received the second of two injections designed to speed up the healing process.
The destructive left-handed opener is, however, not expected to be fit to play in the Dolphins’ home double-header this weekend against the Warriors and the Lions (on Sunday), with his projected debut being pushed back to March 9 when the Dolphins play the Titans in Centurion.
Edwards has been hit by injuries, principally to his back, in his nine-year international career. He enjoyed a spectacular start to his career after he was initially spotted in the nets by Brian Lara.
He was subsequently called up by the West Indies after playing only one match for Barbados and responded by taking a five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka at Kingston, Jamaica, in June 2003.
Edwards spent two years in the injury wilderness between May 2009 and June 2011, but he has made a good recovery in recent months, playing with Gayle for the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash league in Australia, and then back in the West Indies for Barbados.
In his last match against Trinidad and Tobago earlier this month, the fiery paceman took 5/64 in Trinidad’s first innings, helping his team to victory in the four-day match.
With Australia beginning their T20, ODI and Test tour of the West Indies next month, it is understood that Edwards will only be available for the Dolphins until their last pool match against the Cobras at Kingsmead on March 21.
The Dolphins will be without leg-spinner Imran Tahir for the remainder of the competition as he is a member of the Proteas’ Test squad in New Zealand. The squad to play the Warriors is expected to be announced today.
