The Cricket West Indies (CWI) men’s selection panel on Tuesday announced the Test Squad to face Zimbabwe.
Dr. Desmond Haynes led men’s selection panel recalled experienced fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, left-arm spinners Gudakesh Motie and Jomel Warrican in the 15-member squad for the upcoming two-match Test Series in Zimbabwe, starting on February 4.
Gabriel has taken 161 wickets in 56 Tests, Recently he was the most successful bowler along with Kemar Roach. his last Test Match was against Sri Lanka in November 2021, the CWI informed in a release on Tuesday.
Warrican’s last international appearance was also in Sri Lanka in December 2021 when he played in both matches in the Test Series.
Motie made his Test debut for West Indies in Antigua in June 2022 in the first Test of the two-match Series victory against Bangladesh.
Chief selector Dr Desmond Haynes said: “This is the start of the international calendar for 2023 and we will hope to start with a win. We appreciate it won’t be as easy assignment as Zimbabwe, like most other teams in world cricket, play very well on their home soil on pitches that will support their style of play.”
“We looked at the conditions we anticipate playing in, and have included two left-arm spinners who didn’t go to Australia in Motie and Warrican. With our fast bowlers, Seales has done extremely well for us since he started back in 2021, but with him unavailable we have decided that Gabriel would be best able to fill that role. He (Gabriel) is an experienced bowler who has been at the international level for over 10 years and has knowledge of the conditions in Zimbabwe when we won there in 2017,” Haynes was quoted as saying in the release.
West Indies squad:
Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Jermaine Blackwood (vice-captain), Nkrumah Bonner, Tagnarine Chanderpaul, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Roach, Devon Thomas, Jomel Warrican