Scorpions’ Fudadin focuses on task of scoring runs
Guyanese-born batsman Assad Fudadin says while a Test recall is never far from his mind, his current priority is to score runs consistently and secure his place in the Jamaica Scorpions team.
Left-hander Fudadin, 33, made his West Indies Test debut in 2012 and played the last of his three matches in the longest format that same year. He has a Test average of 30.5, plus a top score of 55.
In 97 first class matches he averages 31.11 with six hundreds, including a best of 145.
“I played three Test matches and my average is over 30, which I think is not bad. But right now, my whole focus is to try to be cemented in this (Scorpions]) team. Every match I’m taking one at a time,” Fudadin said after top-scoring with 81 in the Scorpions’ first-innings 210 in the regional first class day/night match against Windward Islands Volcanoes at Sabina Park.
“My mind is not so far [ahead]; once I score runs [getting a Test call is a possibility]. I’ve been there and I would say I did well for WI when I had my opportunities.”
Fudadin missed the Scorpions first game of the season last month — a 41-run loss to Barbados Pride after a humiliating second-innings batting collapse saw them falling short of 107 runs for victory.
On Friday’s opening day versus the Volcanoes, his gritty effort batting in the middle order ensured the Scorpions did not suffer a similar fate, despite some of his fellow batsmen throwing their hands away against a steady, if not exceptional, bowling performance.
“It was a fighting knock and I’m happy with it,” a satisfied-looking Fudadin told the Jamaica Observer during an interview at close of play on Friday.
“You had to work for your runs, you had to play a workmanlike innings. Coming back into the team it was a knock I was searching for — I was hoping for this,” he explained.
The solid left-hand batsman said the conditions weren’t straightforward.
“It wasn’t easy conditions for us to start with. There is a lot of grass so it was seaming about, and with the spinners it was gripping and there was some inconsistent bounce. There is something for the fast bowlers,” he pointed out.
