Daily Times

BARBADOS: Jason Holder will miss Bangladesh’s tour of West Indies, having been granted his request for a period of rest and recovery. He was not part of the 12-man squad named by Cricket West Indies (CWI) for the first Test of that tour, which starts on June 16. Kemar Roach is also not part of this squad, as he recovers from a hamstring injury picked up during his stint with English county Surrey. CWI said Roach will undergo a fitness assessment closer to the game, and be added to the squad if passed fit. The squad, named on Thursday, includes three players uncapped in Test cricket in wicketkeeper batter Devon Thomas, left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie and fast bowler Anderson Phillip. Former West Indies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s son Tagenarine, a batter, was named a reserve player, alongside fast bowler Shermon Lewis. Allrounder Raymon Reifer, who played his solitary Test till date in December 2017, gets a recall.

Thomas, Motie and Phillip have all already debuted for West Indies, but in the white-ball formats. Motie was a reserve player at the T20 World Cup last year, while Phillip was also called up for West Indies’ previous Test assignment: a three-Test home series against England in March, which West Indies won 1-0. Holder and Roach aside, the others to miss out from the squad named for the England series are batter Shamarh Brooks and left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul. Brooks had scored 79 runs from five innings in that series at 15.80, while Permaul took five wickets from four innings at 50.80. Holder has been playing cricket relatively non-stop since January, with limited-overs series against Ireland, England and India followed by the England Tests and the IPL, where he turned out for Lucknow Super Giants.

Roach was due to spend two months with Surrey in the English County Championship, but did damage to his left hamstring in their game against Hampshire in mid-April and has been in recovery since. West Indies’ chief selector Desmond Haynes, explaining the new faces in the squad, said: “Devon Thomas has been knocking on the door for quite some time. He has done extremely well in our franchise cricket system and we view this as a good opportunity to give him a go. You would notice that Raymon Reifer is also in the squad. He is another person that has done impressively well in the four-day competition and against England [in a tour game]. So again, we are giving opportunities to guys who are performing. We think Gudakesh Motie is one of those guys who is also bowling well, and we think it will be a good opportunity for him to be involved.” In all Bangladesh play West Indies in two Tests (which count for World Test Championship points), three T20Is and three ODIs between June 16 and July 16.

West Indies’ squad for the 1st Test vs Bangladesh: Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), Jermaine Blackwood (vice-capt), Nkrumah Bonner, John Campbell, Joshua Da Silva, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Raymon Reifer, Jayden Seales, Devon Thomas.

Reserves: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Shermon Lewis.

Out: Shamarh Brooks, Jason Holder (rested), Veerasammy Permaul, Kemar Roach (pending fitness assessment).

In: Gudakesh Motie, Raymon Reifer, Devon Thomas.