Cricket West Indies has announced a new-look squad for the team's upcoming Test match series against Australia Down Under. The squad will be led by Kraigg Brathwaite with seven uncapped players included in the team as well. The Windies will travel to Australia for an all-format series starting from January 17 onwards.
With senior pros missing out, the Windies board called in uncapped players like Zachary McCaskie, Tevin Imlach, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Kevin Sinclair, Akeem Jordan and Shamar Joseph. Regular faces like Jason Holder, Kyle Mayers and Jayden Seales are not part of the series. While Holder and Mayers have opted out of the series to focus on T20 cricket, Seales has not been picked due to a shoulder injury.
Alzarri Joseph named vice-captain
Notably, Royal Challengers Bangalore's new signee in IPL Alzarri Joseph has been named as the new vice-captain of the Test side. The Windies board confirmed the same. "The West Indies will again be led by Captain Kraigg Brathwaite, with fast bowler Alzarri Joseph named as the new Vice Captain," CWI wrote in the squad announcement statement. Notably, Joseph was recently named vice-captain for the England ODI series.
As the regular players remain absent from the series, the CWI chief selector Desmond Haynes admitted that the squad selection has been affected by their unavailability of them. "The squad has been affected by the unavailability of some key players. However, we have had a very strong red-ball program being run over the past year, which has unearthed significant talent throughout the region," Haynes said.
"The selected players have passed each test given to them and must now be given the opportunity to showcase their skills in the Test arena. Australia away is always a challenge, but we are confident in our team," he added.
West Indies Test squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Alzarri Joseph (vc), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Justin Greaves, Joshua DaSilva, Akeem Jordan, Gudakesh Motie, Kemar Roach, Kevin Sinclair, Tevin Imlach, Shamar Joseph, Zachary McCaskie
