Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo is the only Guyanaese player named in the West Indies squad to face England in a three-match series in the Caribbean early next month the Caribbean Media Corporation reported yesterday.
Earning a recall predictably is opening batsman Kieran Powell who scored heavily in the recent Super50 tournament which was won by the Barbados Pride team.
The selectors have surprisingly excluded experienced left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn and batsman Sunil Ambris for the Caribbean series despite their form in the recent Regional Super50.
The left-handed Powell, who returned to domestic competition last year following a controversial self-imposed two-year break, was outstanding in the just-concluded Regional Super50 with a tournament-best aggregate of 513 runs at an average of 64.
He smashed three centuries and two half-centuries in helping lead Leeward Islands Hurricanes into the semi-finals, and is likely to find his way into the final XI especially with Johnson Charles no longer in contention.
However, chairman Courtney Browne and his panel have strangely overlooked Barbadian Benn who was one of the Super50’s leading spinners with 18 wickets, at an average of 10 and an economy rate of just under three.
He was especially brilliant in last Saturday’s Regional Super50 final in Antigua when he grabbed three for 33 from 10 overs, to help Barbados Pride beat Jamaica Scorpions by 59 runs.
The fiercely competitive Benn, a fixture in the squad last year, has taken 39 wickets from 47 ODIs.
Instead, selectors have opted for leg-spinner Bishoo who struggled during the Super50 campaign, taking 10 wickets at 28 run apiece and with an economy rate of nearly five an over.
The Guyanese played his first ODI in five years last November when he turned out in one game during the Tri-Nations Series in Zimbabwe, taking three wickets.
Overall, he has taken 23 wickets from 14 ODIs.
Windward Islands Volcanoes batsman, Ambris, was also snubbed despite his 423 runs at an average of 70, including six half-centuries, during the Super50.
Sunil Ambris … overlooked despite heavy scoring in the Regional Super50.
Most of the 23-year-old right-hander’s runs came under pressure especially with Volcanoes struggling throughout the tournament. He also kept wicket, finishing with 12 dismissals.
Bizarrely, rookie Test wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich, who played as a specialist batsman for Barbados Pride during the Super50 has gained favour in the squad despite dismal returns of 119 runs at an average of 19.
Dowrich was a late inclusion in the West Indies squad for the Zimbabwe Tri-Nations Series last year following the withdrawal of Marlon Samuels but failed to get a game on tour, with Shai Hope getting the nod for wicketkeeping duties.
Barbadian speedster Miguel Cummins, meanwhile, who played one of his two career ODIs during the Zimbabwe Tri-Nations, has found favour with selectors despite three wickets in four games in the Super50.
As expected, Jason Holder has retained the captaincy role for the series which will see West Indies take on England from March 3-9. The first two games are scheduled for the Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium here while the third is set for Kensington Oval in Barbados.
SQUAD — Jason Holder (captain), Kraigg Brathwaite, Kieran Powell, Shai Hope, Jonathan Carter, Rovman Powell, Shane Dowrich, Carlos Brathwaite, Shannon Gabriel, Miguel Cummins, Devendra Bishoo, Jason Mohammed, Ashley Nurse, Alzarri Joseph and Evin Lewis.
