The CWI has announced the West Indies squad for the upcoming tour of Pakistan and the Netherlands.
Accordingly, there is no room for several senior players in the squad and the doors of the squad have been opened for a few new faces.
Senior all-rounders Jason Holder, Shimron Hetmeyer and Evin Lewis have been ruled out of the squad.
According to the West Indies Cricket Board, Jason Holder is playing in the IPL this year and has been rested to manage his work.
Also, Evin Lewis is not fit due to failing to meet the required fitness criteria, and shimron hetmayer has not been named in the squad due to the birth of his first child.
However, three new faces have been added to the squad. They are Jaden Sills, Shermon Lewis, and Keys Carty. Speaking about the inclusion of Carty, chief selector Desmond Haynes said,
“We were impressed with Carty and the way he goes about his innings, we saw several glimpses of his ability the way he played against England earlier this year for the CWI President’s XI. We hope that giving him this opportunity he will recognize the importance of representing West Indies. We think he is a young batsman with great promise, and this is the kind of tour he can show he fits in.”
Commenting further, Haynes said,
“We also have a very good group of young fast bowlers who have demonstrated their ability and we want to use these two tours to give them opportunities in the 50-over format. We have a week in The Netherlands and another week in Pakistan and this should provide them with quality opposition to bowl against as we build towards the Cricket World Cup in 2023. Phillip has been around for some time, and we know what he can offer, Seales has been very good in Test cricket and Lewis is making a return to the West Indies set-up following some good performances.”
West Indies’ tour of the Netherlands, which will be the first ODI series between the two teams, will be played at the VRA Cricket Ground in Amstelveen with the matches scheduled on May 31, June 2 and 4. The three-match ODI series against Pakistan is scheduled to be played in Rawalpindi on June 8, 10 and 12.
Both series are part of the ICC ODI Super League with the points earned here providing opportunity to the teams to seal one of the top seven spots for automatic qualification for the ODI World Cup to be held in India in 2023.
West Indies squad: Nicholas Pooran (C), Shai Hope (VC), Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Keacy Carty, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Shermon Lewis, Kyle Mayers, Anderson Phillip, Rovman Powell, Jayden Seales, Romario Shepherd, and Hayden Walsh Jr.
Many are of the opinion that West Indies white ball captain Nicholas Pooran should play Test cricket. Commenting on this, Desmond Haynes said that he had talked to him about it.
“I had a chat with Nicholas when I first got the job a couple months ago and he was talking about his involvement in playing cricket for Trinidad (TT Red Force) and making sure he played the longer version and trying to see if he could get into the Test side.”
He also said that he would like to play Test cricket.
“I would love to see him playing Test cricket.”
In Few months ago Pooran also told to ESPNcricinfo that he planned to play Test cricket.
“Playing Test cricket is still in my plans, but as I say, everything happens at the right time. When it’s my time to play Test cricket, I’m sure I will.”
Pooran has only played five first-class matches, scoring 319 runs at an average of 31.90 which includes two half-centuries.
Hetmyer is returning to the IPL after the birth of his child, Holder is rested but still playing in the IPL, Lewis is always injuted. It seems to me that world cricket is now plan around the IPL and some players would rather abandon playing for their country and join the repetitive IPL circus.