ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Fast bowling seemed to have been uppermost in the minds of the West Indies selection panel, when they chose the 13-member squad for their upcoming three Twenty20 Internationals against Afghanistan next month in St. Kitts.
They have chosen to rest Jason Holder, sought to give the attack an edge with the recall of Jerome Taylor to international duty and cast an eye to the future with the choice of Ronsford Beaton as the only newcomer in the squad to be led by Carlos Brathwaite.
Holder has been a regular member of the T20I squad since his debut three years ago, but Courtney Browne, the chairman of the West Indies selection panel, said the lanky Test and One-day International captain has been given a break with a view to having him recharged and ready for significant ODI contests in the next two months.
West Indies face a race against time to qualify directly for the 2019 ICC World Cup to be
– Ronsford Beaton
hosted by England and Wales, and the selectors clearly see Holder’s role as important to the team’s bid to avoid having to play in the qualifying tournament next year in Bangladesh.
The World Cup will feature 10 teams with hosts England, and the top seven other teams in the ICC ODI Rankings on September 30 this year, earning automatic qualification with the remaining two spots being decided at the qualifying tournament.
“He has requested a break and, after discussion with the staff, we have granted him this period to refresh himself and prepare for the upcoming ODIs against Afghanistan and India.”
As a consequence of Holder’s absence, veteran fellow fast bowler Taylor gets a chance to give the selectors cogent proof that he is serious about fully resuming his international career, after he has announced his retirement from Tests and ODIs last year.
Taylor has played 23 T20Is for West Indies, the last of which was against Pakistan in September 2016, in addition to 46 Tests and 85 One-day Internationals, and is part of a core of experienced players that includes veteran batsman Marlon Samuels, spinners Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine, as well as marauding batsman Kieron Pollard and Lendl Simmons that Browne hoped would fortify the squad in the game’s shortest format.
“After the T20I series against Pakistan, we felt that it was important to keep the same group together so that the coaches can continue developing the young players,” he said. “This coupled with the vast T20 experience of some of our senior players can help us to build a very formidable unit.
“In developing a high performance unit, there is never room for complacency and our expectation is to win against a team that is ranked lower than us in the ICC Rankings.”
On the inclusion of Beaton, Browne said: “Our head coach Stuart Law has asked for someone who can add some firepower to the attack. We felt that Ronsford has shown he can bowl with sustained pace in T20 cricket and we are confident he will do very well.”
The 24-year-old Beaton has not quite lived up to the promise he showed as a precocious teenaged fast bowler and has grabbed 31 wickets from 36 T20 matches, most of which have been for either the Guyana Amazon Warriors or Trinidad & Tobago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League.
RONSFORD BEATON
All-rounder Jonathan Carter, who was part of the training squad named ahead of the T20I series against Pakistan in
April, was left out, along with opener Andre Fletcher and left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul, but have been named in a 12-member, Ashley Nurse-led WICB President’s XI squad that will play a warm-up match against the Afghans before the start of the T20I series.
“This is an opportunity for the experienced players to restate their desire to represent West Indies again by way of performance and the inexperienced players to show their ability at a higher level with a view to be considered for selection in the future,” said Browne.
Nicholas Pooran, whose participation in the last regional season hit a snag, when he chose to play in the Bangladesh Premier League and was subsequently suspended by the WICB, is one of the players named in the President’s XI squad.
Afghanistan famously beat West Indies, by six runs, the last time both sides played in a T20I, at the World T20 last year in India before Darren Sammy’s side moved on to win the tournament.
Squads:
WEST INDIES: Carlos Brathwaite (captain), Samuel Badree, Ronsford Beaton, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton and Kesrick Williams.
WICB PRESIDENT’S XI: Ashley Nurse (captain), Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Sheldon Cottrell, Miguel Cummins, Andre Fletcher, Delorn Johnson, Kyle Mayers, Veerasammy Permaul, Nicholas Pooran, Raymond Reifer and Devon Thomas.
