Weekly Talent Spotlight #10: Odean Smith
With his initials standing for overseas, how potent of an overseas player can he be in franchise cricket, and for the Windies?
DISCLAIMER: THIS WEEKLY TALENT SPOTLIGHT EDITION IS FOR THE WEEK OF 8TH JANUARY-14TH JANUARY.
West Indies’ limited-overs team has been of steep concern in recent times, and now the only team to win two T20 World Cup titles are now playing the qualifying round in this year’s T20 World Cup in Australia. With everything all over the place, where does Odean Smith fall in the ever-changing Caribbean Jigsaw Puzzle?
Early Career
Odean made his debut for Jamaica at the U19 level in the 2014 West Indies Cricket Board Under-19 Tournament (Three-Day), where he finished as the 10th highest wicket-taker, with 10 wickets at an average of 14.60 across 3 matches.
An impressive performance in the 2014 West Indies Cricket Board Under-19 Limited Overs Tournament (50 Over) landed him to a stint with the West Indies U19 team at age 18 in the 2014/15 Nagico Super50, where he took 4 wickets at an average of 19.25 with an economy rate of 5.13 across 3 matches.
In the 2015 West Indies Cricket Board Under-19 Limited Overs Tournament (50 Over), Odean massively impressed with both bat and ball, finishing as the second highest wicket taker, with 13 wickets across 7 matches at an average of 24.07 with an economy rate of 4.94. With the bat, he was the 22nd highest run scorer, scoring 127 runs at an average of 31.75 with a colossal strike rate of 153.01, the only batsman in the top 50 to have a strike rate above 130+.
Being promoted to #4 against Canada U19, Odean smashed his season high score of 68* off 32 deliveries at a strike rate of 212.50 to help Jamaica U19 post a total of 280/2 on the board.
2016 U19 World Cup
Odean got another stint with the West Indies U19 for the coveted U19 World Cup in 2016. Before that however, West Indies U19 played a 3 match Youth ODI series against the hosts, Bangladesh U19.
Unfortunately, he was unable to make a noticeable impact in the series, and in the U19 World Cup, he only played two matches. West Indies U19 would go on to win the final against India U19 in Dhaka.
Continued Backing
In spite of a far from memorable tour of Bangladesh with the U19 side, the Jamaica Tallawahs saw the potential in him, and drafted him in Round 15 in the CPL17 draft for $4000.
In the third match of the Tallawahs’ season, Odean made his debut against the Trinbago Knight Riders, and had a fairly impactful debut.
His first CPL wicket was of Denesh Ramdin for 5, a full ball angled toward leg stump that Ramdin smashed straight to Shakib-al-Hasan at midwicket. In the final over, Odean took two wickets to seal the innings, the first one being Kevon Cooper for 5, with a good length angled into the stumps to which Cooper tried to make room for himself to take him downtown, but he missed everything and lost his stumps.
Three balls later, Odean took the final wicket of Robbie Frylinck for 5, who went for the slog but it went through and pegged his stumps, and Odean helped to bundle out the Knight Riders for a paltry total of 147. He finished with figures of 3-20 in 3.5 overs.
Odean finished with 5 wickets across 4 matches at an average of 28.60 with an economy rate of 9.03.
About 2.5 months later, Odean was selected for a Sri Lanka A tour of West Indies for 3 List A matches. Odean played the final fixture and took the solitary wicket of captain Dhananjaya de Silva for 3, and finished with figures of 1-15 in 3 overs.
A month later, Odean made his senior debut for Jamaica in the 2017/18 WICB Professional Cricket League Regional 4 Day Tournament against Trinidad and Tobago.
With the ball, Odean took the lone scalp of Imran Khan for 5, and finished with figures of 1-22 in 8.1 overs in the first innings. When it was Jamaica’s turn to bat, Odean came at #10 and smoked a 27 ball 54 at a strike rate of 200, which included a four and 7 sixes, and helped Jamaica post a total of 535.
In the second innings, Odean took the lone wicket of Ewart Nicholson for 17.
The Road To The Maroon Jersey
In the 2017/18 Super50, Odean finished as the 24th highest wicket taker, taking 9 wickets at an average of 21.11 with an economy rate of 5.08 across 6 matches. The following month, Odean was selected for a home A series against the England Lions, which consisted of three List A fixtures. He took the wicket of Sam Curran for 26 in the second List A match.
A stroke of luck played in Odean’s international debut for the West Indies. Cricket West Indies had to name a squad with a few of the main faces making themselves unavailable for a tour of Pakistan in 2018 due to security concerns, and this paved the opportunity for Odean to don the maroon.
Odean made his T20I debut in the second of three T20Is a part of the itinerary, and took the solitary wicket of Hussain Talat for 63, and finished with figures of 1-40 in his allotted quota.
In the final T20I, Odean took the wicket of Babar Azam for 51, flicking a good length delivery straight to Chadwick Walton at cover. Odean finished with figures of 1-38 in 3 overs.
Clash Against The Bengal Tigers
Odean was selected for the West Indies’ President XI to play against Bangladesh (Bangladeshis in this fixture) in a two-day tour match. He was unable to make a noticeable impact.
CPL18
In the next season of the CPL, Odean moved to the Saint Lucia Zouks, being drafted in Round 18 for $3000. Odean only played 3 matches and was unable to make a noticeable impact.
2018/19 Super50
After a period of essentially playing the role of that of a spectator, Odean found some rhythm back in the 2018/19 Super50. Playing for the West Indies B, Odean was the 33rd highest run scorer, with 149 runs across 5 matches at an average of 37.25 whilst striking at 131.85, with a top score of 64 against the Windward Islands.
CPL19
After a season with the Zouks, Odean changed base again, with the Guyana Amazon Warriors drafting him in Round 11 for $7500.
Playing 6 matches, Odean finished his season with 4 wickets at an average of 34.75 with an economy rate of 8.68.
2019/20 Super50
Representing Trinidad&Tobago, Odean took 7 wickets across 7 matches at an average of 36.57 with an economy rate of 6.56.
2020/21 Super50
Odean returned to his home island the following season. With the ball, he took 3 wickets across 4 matches at an average of 45 odd and an economy rate of 6.13, and with the bat, he scored 102 runs across 4 matches at a strike rate of 92.72 and a top score of 68* against Barbados.
CPL21
Odean was retained by the Amazon Warriors at Round 11 ahead of the CPL21 season, and the faith in retaining him paid in dividends with both bat and ball, with Volcano Odean becoming active again after a period of dormancy.
With the bat, Odean finished as the 33rd highest run scorer, scoring 126 runs at an average of 18 odd whilst striking at 132.63. His season best score came against the Barbados Royals, against whom he struck 43 off 29 deliveries at a strike rate of 148.29, including 2 fours and 4 sixes against a bowling attack including Mohammad Amir and Jason Holder.
With the ball, Odean finished as the 3rd highest wicket taker, scalping 18 wickets at an average of 14.88 with an economy rate of 7.54. His best figures of 3/20 came against his first franchise the Tallawahs, taking the wickets of Shamarh Brooks, Carlos Brathwaite and Chris Green for scores of 8, 15 and 31 respectively.
Outlucking the Irish
Odean received his maiden ODI callup against Ireland in January 2022, and played all three fixtures.
Odean had handy cameos in all three ODIs, but his most significant one came in the second ODI.
Coming in at #10 with the Windies struggling at 143/8 with 10 overs to go, Odean smashed 46 runs off 19 deliveries and nearly broke Chris Gayle’s record of fastest ODI 50 by a West Indies player to help the Men In Maroon reach a more respectable total of 229. His 46 included 2 fours and 5 sixes.
Odean finished as the 5th highest run scorer, scoring 84 runs at a whopping strike rate of 227.02.
Technical Breakdown of Odean Smith
Odean has a noticeably muscular build like Andre Russell. Like any other powerhitter, Odean has a high backlift, which will help further develop his power-hitting technique, as it enables the batsman to make contact with the ball with greater force due to more acceleration generated from the bat. Odean has a closed grip of the bat, which means it is pointed more towards the inside edge of the bat to enable more power straight and into the legside, making Odean a legside dominant player.
Toss it up within his hitting arc and he will smash you long over the fence in the legside with ease. Too short, you can also expect similar treatment in the offside region, with upper cuts, slogs and horizontal cross-bat strokes.
Odean has good hand-eye coordination, with a stable base against pace, and has the ability to pick the length early.
Against pace, Odean can play the upper cut, traditional cut shot, pull, horizontal cross-bat strokes and slog,
Against spin, Odean can slog and pull it.
Odean is also able to clear his front leg, which is a critical component of power-hitting. This gives Odean the freedom to strike any region of the park, as there is no hindrance to the bat swing, giving him easy access to the ball (as shown in the exhibit above).
Whenever Odean is able to successfully clear his front leg, his bat downswing is absolutely gorgeous and a stroke to behold. This is because he transitions to a wide stance during this, which is the ideal stance for power hitting, as it already allows you access to the ball without having to move again (ie the batsman is powerful from his base). This is also an example of good hand-eye coordination, where the batsman is at the crease with not much foot movement, picking the length early and still having plenty of time to play the shot.
Albeit a small sample size, Odean does have a negative spin matchup against slow left-arm orthodox, scoring 12 runs from 10 across 3 innings, with 1 dismissal at a strike rate of 120.
For the time being, this is not a significant liability to his game, and can be covered with a reliable spin hitter at the other end.
For bowling analysis, refer to this thread.
Why was Odean selected for Weekly Talent Spotlight?
Odean was selected for this week’s edition due to his very impressive cameo of 46 off 19 deliveries against Ireland.
The great Trinidadian allrounder Dwayne Bravo has Odean as part of a list that has the potential to fill in his shoes.
”Guys like Dominic Drakes, Odean Smith, Romario Shepherd, these are good quality all-rounders, those are names to look out for as well.” Bravo said.
In this upcoming mega auction in the Indian Premier League, Odean has taken the rather bold decision of putting himself in the 2 crore bracket (approximately $269,000 USD), but with his form in the last few months and how every team will have a dire need of buying powerhitters, Odean has put his hand up at the right time, and there are good odds there he will be bought.
The West Indies limited overs team have been hit by setbacks within the last few days, namely the 2-1 series loss to Ireland and now having to play the qualifying round of this year’s T20 World Cup, piling up more Caribbean Jigsaw Puzzles on top of other Caribbean Jigsaw Puzzles. However, Odean is one of the prospects in recent times who have shown that with the right grooming, they have what it takes to make their T20I side a force to be reckoned with once again.