The West Indies men’s team, after their horror run in New Zealand where they were badly beaten 2-0 in the recent test series, is set to tour Bangladesh in January.
The squad, according to Chief Executive Officer of Cricket West Indies (CWI), Johnny Grave, will be selected shortly with Chief Selector, Roger Harper, expected to name 25 players for both the test and one-day legs of the tour.
Harper is anticipated to face a number of selection dilemmas, one of which surrounds the inclusion of his countryman, Romario Shepherd in the test squad.
Shepherd, who replaced Dwayne Bravo for the T20 leg of the New Zealand tour, proved to the selectors that he can perform credibly at the topflight first-class level; producing a number of robust returns for the West Indies `A’ side against their New Zealand counterparts. He cracked his maiden first-class ton, 133 and an unbeaten 77 during the two matches.
His bowling, however, was slightly disappointing, only taking two wickets after three appearances with the ball. However, I think anyone will agree that he has done enough to earn his maiden call-up at the test level and it certainly would be an indictment on Harper if he ignores Shepherd’s output.
Another factor that weighs heavily in Shepherd’s favour is the fact that he is right at home bowling on low surfaces, having played most of his cricket in Guyana. Bangladesh is quite similar. Shepherd will also enjoy flexing his muscles against a diet of spin bowling expected to be thrown his way.
It’s all lining up nicely for the Tucber Park Cricket Club player.
Similarly, this tour presents an opportunity for Harper to experiment a bit with the likes of Nicholas Pooran in the test side. His selection would be justified on the basis that he’s one of, if not, the brightest batting prospect in the region and like Shepherd, he too, was one of the standout performers for the second unit against New Zealand with scores of 26, 69, 46 and 35.
Harper will also have to consider the returns of opening batsman, Shayne Moseley, who performed strongly against the Kiwis. He notched up 110 and 54 in the final match against New Zealand `A’ and is undoubtedly a form player. The Chief Selector will have to decide whether he will persist with Kraigg Braithwaite, who looked in good touch prior to the New Zealand series, but failed to make a significant score, and John Campbell, who ended the series with a fluent half-century.
The spin bowling department, in the test side, will also receive a lot of interest. Pundits are expecting Harper to make amends for his exclusion of Veersamy Permaul from the England tour. Permaul was the most notable omission of that tour after snaring 50 wickets in the most recent first-class season; the Guyanese was hoping to make a return to the final squad after a five-year hiatus.
Meanwhile, Trinidadian, Joshua DaSilva should be primed to hold onto the wicket-keeping slot after his encouraging returns on debut where he scored a half-century and didn’t look too shabby behind the stumps. One of the fast bowlers from the last squad, however, may miss out on selection to make room for an extra spinner to exploit the spin-friendly conditions in Bangladesh.
Possible test side: Kraigg Braithwaite, John Campbell/Shayne Moseley, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Jermaine Blackwood, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd, Veerasammy Permaul, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Chemar Holder/Alzarri Joseph.
