ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – West Indies have applied to World Cup organisers for Kirk Edwards and Devon Thomas to replace the injured pair of Adrian Barath and Carlton Baugh Jr. in their squad.
The West Indies Cricket Board confirmed yesterday that Barath and Baugh will be sidelined for the tournament with hamstring injuries.
“Medical specialists have determined that in both cases, the two players will not be able to resume training for two to three weeks,” said WICB spokesman Imran Khan in a media release.
The WICB, through the team operations manager Richie Richardson, has made an application to the World Cup Event Committee for Baugh and Barath to be replaced in the squad.
Baugh was sidelined during the team’s second World Cup warm-up match on Tuesday, and Darren Bravo was required to keep wicket, but Barath missed the match.
Edwards and Thomas may not arrive in time to be considered for West Indies’ opening match against South Africa next Thursday, but the current squad can manage until they arrive
The younger Bravo may be called upon to keep wicket again, and though Devon Smith opened the batting in the warm-ups, they could also put Shivnarine Chanderpaul at the top of the order.
Edwards and Thomas were probably going through their final preparations to take part in this weekend’s regional first-class championship for Barbados and Leeward Islands respectively, when the WICB put them on standby.
The pair were two of the three reserves identified, when the World Cup squad was announced last month during the Barbados leg of the Caribbean Twenty20 Championship. The other reserve is fast bowler Tino Best.
Edwards had been chosen in the One-day International squad for the five-match series against Sri Lanka at the end of last year, following a successful year with the A-Team.
But the weather in Sri Lanka failed to cooperate, and the series was aborted without a ball being bowled, with Edwards unable to make an impression.
On his return to the Caribbean, Edwards was thrust into the Barbados team for the CT20, but he found the going rough, and eventually lost his place at the top of the order.
He failed to make the cut for the squad, which was picked for both the rescheduled series against the Sri Lankans, comprising three ODIs, and the World Cup, with Ramnaresh Sarwan returning to take his rightful place in the line-up.
Edwards however, has shown his class, with scores of 93, 42, and 171 in the regional first-class competition, and this should please team officials.
Thomas, a 21-year-old wicketkeeper/batsman from Antigua & Barbuda, has not quite made the same splash in regional competitions as Edwards.
He was part of the Young West Indies side that took part in the Youth World Cup three years ago in Malaysia.
Thomas was also part of the first intake at the High Performance Centre last year, and impressed most knowledgeable observers with his glove-work.
He played a couple of ODIs and a Twenty20 International for West Indies two years ago against Bangladesh in the Caribbean, when several of the leading players took industrial action to protest terms and conditions.
Thomas also travelled with West Indies to Sri Lanka for the Test series at the end of last year.
West Indies face South Africa in their opening match of the World Cup next Thursday at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi, India.
They have been drawn in Group-B with Netherlands, Ireland, and England, as well as co-hosts Bangladesh and India.
West Indies won the first two World Cup competitions in 1975 and 1979 under the captaincy of Clive Lloyd, but they have since struggled to keep up with the World’s best.
They are currently ranked ninth in ODIs in the World behind Bangladesh.
