Guyanese cricketers Nial Smith and Veerasammy Permaul were both listed among a Cricket West Indies (CWI) 30-man squad for three-week high performance red-ball training camp which begins today in St. Lucia.
According to a release from the body, the squad has been named in preparation for the upcoming Test series against South Africa.
Left arm spinner Permaul has topped the charts in Regional tournaments for a number of years and was included in the West Indies Test squad that toured Bangladesh recently.
On the other hand, the 25-year-old pacer, Smith, made his debut in the last Regional First-Class season and picked up 20 wickets in seven matches including two five-wicket hauls.
Like Smith, Jamaica top-order batsman Paul Palmer, Vincentian leg-spinning all-rounder Keron Cottoy and St. Kitts & Nevis’ left-hand batter, Kieran Powell, will be receiving their first international training experience since the beginning of the pandemic.
Notably, former Test captain and ICC number one ranked all-rounder, Jason Holder and Guyanese batsman, Shimron Hetmyer, were not listed.
Fast bowling all-rounder, Romario Shepherd, who scored a century against New Zealand A as well as a half century in the two four-day First-Class matches along with Test all-rounder, Keemo Paul and Sunil Ambris were also not included.
The release gave reasons for the absence of fast bowlers, Kemar Roach and Alzarri Joseph as well as Test captain, Kraigg Brathwaite.
“Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite and fast bowlers Kemar Roach and Alzarri Joseph will not be attending as they are currently competing in the English County Championship and will return to the West Indies for the Test Series if selected,” the release stated.
The camp will include two ‘best v best’ inter-squad matches as the West Indies look ahead to their final series in the ICC World Test Championship with two Test Matches against the Proteas in June.
The squad will arrive in St. Lucia and complete quarantine protocols established by the Ministry of Health for the bio-secure environment, before they start training led by Head Coach, Phil Simmons and his team management unit.
“This camp is very important for our preparation for the upcoming Test Series against South Africa and for the rest of our busy and exciting summer,” said Simmons.
“We will continue the work which we begun last year in England, to further develop our Test team into a force to be reckoned with in world cricket. We welcome the good news of a rise to sixth in the ICC Test Rankings, however, this is just the beginning of our journey and we know we have lots of hard work ahead of us,” he added.
CWI’s Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams, said that he was looking forward to the camp as CWI continues its investment in and focus on building a high-performance environment.
“The pandemic has made it necessary to assemble larger squads during the pre-tour phase to allow our preparation to be facilitated within one bio-secure bubble. This has turned into a positive for us by creating a much-needed level of focus and intensity leading into tours while also allowing for players to make a case for selection if they perform well in the warm-up games. Given the lack of Regional four-day cricket so far this year, these camps have taken on even greater importance in our test match preparations,” Adams said.
The Daren Sammy Cricket Stadium (DSCG) will host both Test matches against South Africa, the first bilateral cricket that will be played in the Caribbean since 2010, with the first Test to be played from June 12-16 and the second from June 18-22.
CWI high-performance training squad: Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Keron Cottoy, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Keon Harding, Jahmar Hamilton, Kavem Hodge, Chemar Holder, Shai Hope, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Preston McSween, Marquino Mindley, Shayne Moseley, Paul Palmer, Veerasammy Permaul, Anderson Phillip, Kieran Powell, Raymon Reifer, Jayden Seales, Nial Smith, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr., Jomel Warrican
Team management unit: Head Coach – Phil Simmons, Team Manager – Rawl Lewis, Assistant Coach – Roddy Estwick, Batting Coach – Andre Coley, Fielding Coach – Rayon Griffith, Physio-therapist – Denis Byam, Physiotherapist – Lyndon Knights, Strength & Conditioning Coach – Ronald Rogers, Massage Therapist – Zephyrinus Nicholas, Massage Therapist – Kurlyn Smith-Nicholas, Mental Skills Coach – Donald La Guerre, Media & Content Officer – Dario Barthley.
