Fast bowlers Jayden Seales and Shermon Lewis, along with specialist batsman Keacy Carty were three newcomers included in the West Indies squad for the upcoming One Day Internationals (ODIs) against the Netherlands and Pakistan, Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced on Monday.
This marks the first tours since white-ball captain Kieron Pollard resigned from international cricket a few weeks ago.
Seales and Lewis have both played at Test level, while Carty is the first player from St. Maarten to be selected for the West Indies Senior Men’s team, but some of the veterans have been left out for varying reasons.
“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,” lead selector Desmond Haynes said of the 25-year-old history-maker, a right-handed middle-order batsman.
“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.”
Veteran West Indies players Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have again been omitted from the squad, and CWI also disclosed that Evan Lewis, who has not played an ODI for the Caribbean side since July last year, was not considered after failing to meet the fitness criteria; and Shimron Hetmyer was unavailable for selection to be at home for the birth of his first child.
The May 31-June 12 tours, in which Nicholas Pooran will lead the side for the first time since being appointed to succeed Pollard as white-ball captain, will also be without all format all-rounder Jason Holder who CWI said “is being rested to manage his workload”.
Haynes said in choosing the team for the West Indies’ next assignment, the selectors wanted to give some young West Indies Test bowlers a chance in the shorter format.
The West Indies will visit the Netherlands for three ODIs on May 31, June 2 and 4, followed by another three ODIs on June 8, 10 and 12 in Pakistan.
“We . . . 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,” Haynes said.
“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. [Anderson] Phillip has been around for some time, and we know what he can offer; Seales has been very good in Test cricket; and [Shermon] Lewis is making a return to the West Indies set-up following some good performances.”
The tour of the Netherlands will be the first-ever ODI Series between the two teams and will be played at the VRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen.
The matches in Pakistan will be played at the Pindi Stadium in Rawalpindi.
Both series form part of the ICC ODI Super League, where teams will have the opportunity to earn points to secure one of the top seven places, excluding hosts India, to gain automatic qualification for the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
FULL SQUAD: Nicholas Pooran (Captain), Shai Hope (Vice-Captain), Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Keacy Carty, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Shermon Lewis, Kyle Mayers, Anderson Phillip, Rovman Powell, Jayden Seales, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh Jr.
(CMC)
