CWI names Test and T20I squads for West Indies tour of New Zealand

The Cricket West Indies (CWI) finally announced two squads for the West Indies tour of New Zealand. The West Indies cricket team will tour New Zealand from November 27 to December 15 for three T20 Internationals and two Test fixtures. The Board agreed to the tour in principle, subject to final details on medical and logistical protocols of CWI, New Zealand Cricket and Government of New Zealand.

The Caribbean Test squad witnessed the return of three players namely the left-handed batsman Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer, as well as all-rounder Keemo Paul. Bravo’s last Test outing was against India in 2019 while Hetmyer last featured in the Test against Afghanistan in November last year. Paul has been away from the Test team for more than a year as he was sidelined after a match against England in 2019. A group of reserves will also travel to help prepare the Test Squad during the quarantine period and training camp as well as cover for injuries.

“The return of Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul will bolster the team, I expect that Darren will solidify the top-order, hopefully making it more productive, while Shimron gives the squad more options in the middle-order and it is another opportunity for him to show how good a player he is. Keemo provides another wicket-taking seam option.” Roger Harper, CWI’s Lead Selector said as quoted by the official website of CWI.

Talking about the absence of Shai Hope from the Test squad, Roger opined that Hope has a brilliant future in the longest format but he needs to get work on his batting to get recognized as a Test batsman.

Andre Russell and Lendl Simmons are not included in the T20I squad
As far as the T20 squad is concerned, the wicketkeeper-batsman Andre Fletcher will be making a comeback in the team for the first time since 2018 while the all-rounder Kyle Mayers will be making his T20I debut. Kyle is included in the national squad after performing well in the 2020 edition of the Caribbean Premier League. Two notable omissions from the team are all-rounder Andre Russell and top-order batsman Lendl Simmons who opted out of the series citing personal reasons.

Speaking on the T20 squad, Harper said, “Lendl Simmons and Andre Russell are two very experienced T20 players who performed very well on the last tour of Sri Lanka and their absence will surely be noted. However, Andre Fletcher has another opportunity to show us what he can do and what he brings to the table.”

CWI has picked the players for the T20 series keeping in mind the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup which is scheduled in India in 2021. Caribbeans would be looking forward to defending their T20 title and again establish themselves as the World Champions in the shortest format of the game.

Test Squad:
Jason Holder (captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Braithwaite, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shimron Hetmyer, Chemar Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Keemo Paul, Kemar Roach, Test Reserves, Nkrumah Bonner, Joshua DaSilva, Preston McSween, Shayne Moseley, Raymon Reifer, Jayden Seales

T20I Squad:
Kieron Pollard (captain), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher, Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Rovman Powell, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr, Kesrick Williams