BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE Chief of Selectors for Cricket West Indies, Roger Harper, has announced that the squad for the two-match Test series between West Indies and Sri Lanka had factored in the recent Bangladesh trip and the inter-squad warm up game.
This comes as questions were raised on the omission of Guyanese sensation Shimron Hetmyer and former Windies Vice Captain Roston Chase from the squad for the series that begins later this month.
CWI selectors yesterday (Mar. 12) announced the squad for the first test that will be led by Kraigg Brathwaite and will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Ground in North Sound Antigua and Barbuda.
Included in the squad are Jermaine Blackwood as Vice Captain, NKrumah Bonner, Darren Bravo, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Kemar Roach and Jomel Warrican.
“The four-day game was part of our preparation for this series. We looked at performance in the four-day game, we took that into consideration. And also we looked at the performance of players in the recently concluded series in Bangladesh,” explained Harper in response to an SKNVibes question.
Addressing Chase’s omission from the team, Harper stated that all things are considered when it comes to the selection of players. But taking into consideration the performance of the team in Bangladesh, many of the touring party grabbed their chances and forced players such as Chase out of the team.
In the case of Hetmyer, the Chief Selection noted that the young batsman has not played regional four-day cricket for several years and needs to work his way back into the longer format.
This comes as several players have staked their claim to the longer version of the sport following the successful Asian Test series last month.
“As I have said, I really think that Shimron has the ability to be one of the best batsmen in the world in all formats of the game. However, I think that as far as test cricket is concerned, he has been absent for a while and hasn’t played regional four-day for a while. And I think that he needs to really get some matches under his belt and showcase what he can do,” Harper declared.
The first Test starts on March 21 and the second will bowl off from March 29- April 2.
