BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Barbados selectors have moved quickly to include the young West Indies trio of Jason Holder, Shane Dowrich and Kraigg Brathwaite in a 13-man squad for the next two rounds of the WICB regional first class championship.
The three players were standouts at the recent ICC Youth World Cup in New Zealand where West Indies played impressively to finish third.
While Brathwaite has already played two first class matches for Barbados and Holder one, Dowrich is poised to make his debut after selectors axed wicketkeeper Patrick Browne from the squad.
The 18-year-old Dowrich is a wicketkeeper who bats aggressively, and could give Barbados crucial runs down the order.
Brathwaite was one of the leading batsmen in the Youth World Cup, scoring 335 runs with four half-centuries while Dowrich finished with 229 runs an average of 45.
Holder, meanwhile, a tall seamer who gets sharp bounce from a length, claimed 12 wickets at an average of 17.75.
The trio, who returned Monday from New Zealand, will be joined in the squad by West Indies left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn who comes in for his first match after recovering from knee surgery.
Leg-spinner Nikolai Charles, batsmen Kyle Hope and Rashidi Boucher, along with Browne are the players axed from the squad.
Barbados, in second with 33 points from four matches, will face Guyana in the fifth round of matches starting there February 12 before taking on Jamaica in the following round slated for Trinidad & Tobago.
SQUAD – Ryan Hinds (captain), Tino Best, Shamarh Brooks, Pedro Collins, Corey Edwards, Kirk Edwards, Jason Haynes, Dale Richards, Kevin Stoute, Kraigg Brathwaite, Jason Holder, Shane Dowrich and Sulieman Benn.