PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Left-arm spinner Kavesh Kantasingh is poised to make his Trinidad and Tobago debut while batsman Lendl Simmons will get another chance to impress West Indies selectors, after both were named in a 13-man squad to face South Africa in a two-day match starting tomorrow.
The squad, which will be led by Daren Ganga, will battle the Proteas at the Sir Frank Worrell Ground in the only warm-up match before the first Test starting at the Queen’s Park Oval next Thursday.
Kantasingh, a former West Indies Under-15 left-arm spinner, has played extensively for the Combined Campuses and Colleges where he has had an impressive run.
He topped the CCC bowling averages with 29 wickets from six matches at an average of 18 in this year’s four-day first class championship, including a 12-wicket match haul that stunned T&T earlier this year in January.
Simmons, meanwhile, will be looking to send yet another strong message to regional selectors after being overlooked since returning from the one-day tour of Australia in February.
He has been ignored for the one-day series against Zimbabwe, the World Twenty20 Championship and the just concluded one-day series against South Africa, with chief selector Clyde Butts citing “issues” as the reason for his non-selection.
Simmons, who has played three Tests and 19 one-dayers, forced his way into West Indies reckoning last year with a sensational 282 against touring England in St Kitts.
Also included in the local team is talented West Indies Under-19 all-rounder Yannic Cariah.
The match bowls off at 10 am.
SQUAD – Daren Ganga (captain), Lendl Simmons, William Perkins, Sherwin Ganga, Kevon Cooper, Gibran Mohammed, Navin Stewart, Yannic Cariah, Amit Jaggernauth, Rayad Emrit, Jason Mohammed, Akiel Cooper, Kavesh Kantasingh.
