Young Seales shows the right mentality but Pollard wants to protect him
Seales bowled three overs and took two wickets for 21 runs to help restrict the Tallawahs to 135-8.
More impressive for the 18-year-old, was the fact that he was entrusted with opening the bowling along with Ali Khan against a powerful Tallawahs top order.
“Today, opening the bowling was not on the cards but after we saw the first couple of balls swing I thought might as well go pace out and see what we get,” said Pollard in an interview with Ian Bishop after the game.
But according to Pollard, the young talent has to be protected and he won’t be putting him in that kind of pressure situation regularly.
“We want to try to protect him as much as possible. He is young so we try not to throw him into the fire. Give him easy roles,” said Pollard.
Despite the need to protect Seales, Pollard did point out that the pacer seems to handle pressure well.
Seales first wicket was that of another youngster in Nicholas Kirton, trapping the number three batsman leg before wicket with a beautiful curling delivery.
The pacer was also given the 16th over with opener Glenn Phillips (58) trying to push the pace of a flagging innings and had him caught, trying to lift a fullish delivery over backward-square-leg, only to be snapped up by Dwayne Bravo on the boundary.
“[…] in the heat of the moment we’ve had to throw him into the fire and the couple of times he has come on, he has shown that he has that mental capacity you know, to take that sort of pressure,” said Pollard.
But Seales night with the ball ended after his third over, even though he had been bowling well, Pollard again deciding to ease him into the thick of things.
“It is not one where we gonna consistently give him the bowling in those pressure situations. I could have easily brought him back in that last over as well but, again, you leave him with that confidence and that high,” he said.