Uncapped Alick Athanaze and Akeem Jordan were named in a West Indies 15-man squad for the two-Test tour of South Africa starting at month end.
Both players were leading performers in the first two rounds of the Regional First-Class Championship and replace left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican and batsman Nkrumah Bonner, who have been dropped from the squad which toured Zimbabwe.
Alick Athanaze, 24, a left-handed batsman with 22 first-class matches, gathered 244 runs at an average of 61 for Windward Islands Volcanoes, following up on the 222 runs he scored last season. More significantly, he impressed with a hundred in the second round last week, pummelling a fine 141 against Guyana Harpy Eagles.
“Athanaze is one of the young players who we have invested in, and he played well in the ‘A Team’ and CWI President’s XI,” said chief selector Desmond Haynes. “He showed great promise in the CG United Super50 last year and then got his first hundred in the West Indies Championship last week.
“We believe he should be given an opportunity at this level. He has also showed leadership, as captain of the Windwards at the start of this season.”
Jordan, meanwhile, a 28-year-old right-arm seamer who has made just five first-class appearances, picked up 12 wickets for Barbados Pride at 16 runs apiece. He also took 12 wickets from three matches in the 2022 campaign, in which he made his first-class debut.
“Jordan has been very impressive from last year, he has continued to bowl well, and has been excellent in the first two matches so far this year,” Haynes continued. “He is very skilful, can bowl the new ball, and looks to put the ball in the right areas. He is also a sharp fielder and good catcher close to the wicket.”
Neither Warrican nor Bonner featured in the two Tests against Zimbabwe. Warrican’s last outing came nearly 15 months ago and the success of fellow left-armer Gudakesh Motie against Zimbabwe is likely to push him even further to the margins.
Bonner, 34, was one of West Indies’ leading Test batsmen in 2021 but despite scoring a hundred against England last March, has averaged only ten from his last five Tests.
West Indies, who thrashed Zimbabwe by an innings and four runs on Tuesday in Bulawayo to take the two-match series 1-0, will now turn their attention to the much more challenging tour of South Africa.
They arrive in South Africa on Friday for two Tests – at SuperSport Park in Centurion from February 28 to March 4 and the Wanderers in Johannesburg from March 8-12.
Prior to the first Test, they take on a South Africa Invitational XI in a four-day match starting February 21.
SQUAD – Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Jermaine Blackwood (vice-captain), Alick Athanaze, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Akeem Jordan, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Roach, Devon Thomas
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