KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC-Jamaica has included former youth players Zeniffe Fowler and Yannick Elliott in its 13-man squad for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Super50 tournament starting next month.
Fowler, a top-order batsman and Elliott, an all-rounder, have been drafted in to replace the experienced duo of batsman Danza Hyatt and left-arm bowler Krishmar Santokie.
Hyatt and Santokie have both opted to play in the second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), after representing Jamaica in the Caribbean Twenty20 (CT20) competition which ended last weekend.
“The absence of these players would have an impact on the squad because of their experience,” said Courtney Daley, Chairman of selectors.
“But I think with the quality pool of players that we have, we can still be effective and have some of the younger players stepping up”.
Fowler has never represented Jamaica at the senior level despite being on the cusp of national selection for several seasons.
Elliott has also endured a long period on the fringes and finally broke into the national starting XI during the CT20 championships.
“I’m satisfied with the replacements… When we (selection panel) looked at it we thought these players would do justice,” Daley said. “They have been around a couple years now. Yannick represented us in the T20 and Zeniffe has been knocking on the door and this is an opportune time to get his break”.
Jamaica will also be without powerful left-hander Christopher Gayle and exciting all-rounder Andre Russell who are both part of the regional squad to tour Australia next month.
West Indies middle-order batsman Marlon Samuels, who is nursing an eye injury suffered in the Australian Big Bash League, was not considered.
Title-holders Jamaica will open their campaign against Barbados at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown on February 7.
SQUAD — Tamar Lambert, Simon Jackson, Nkrumah Bonner, Zeniffe Fowler, Andre McCarthy, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlton Baugh, David Bernard, Yannick Elliott, Nikita Miller, Odean Brown, Andrew Richardson, Sheldon Cotterell.
