Four members of the victorious Guyana Harpy Eagles squad have been named in Team Weekes for the Cricket West Indies (CWI) upcoming Tri-Series encounters, the Caribbean Media Corporation reported yesterday.
Left-handed opener, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, son of former West Indies captain, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, spinners Veerasammy Permaul and Kevin Sinclair and fast bowler Nial Smith were named in the squad which will be led by exciting Windward Islands Volcanoes left-hander Alick Athanaze.
Jamaica white-ball specialist Brandon King is also among the players in that line-up.
Test spinner Guyana’s Gudakesh Motie has been named in the Headley Squad while the West Indies Academy Squad will feature Guyanese Ashmead Nedd and Kevlon Anderson.
Test discard Darren Bravo was named among the list of players in the three squads to take part in the Cricket West Indies Headley-Weekes tri-series, starting later this month at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.
The presence of the left-handed batsman in the 13-member Team Headley squad to be led by Trinidad & Tobago Red Force teammate and West Indies wicketkeeper-batsman Joshua Da Silva could signal that the West Indies selection panel led by Desmond Haynes may see a path for his return to Test duty.
The selection panel have also chosen to include fellow Test discards, Kieran Powell and Sunil Ambris in Team Headley for the series of three four-day, first-class matches, starting on April 19, 26, and May 3 at CWI headquarters, also giving them hope of a Test recall.
But no captain was named among the list of players for the West Indies Academy, which will be the third team to take part in the tournament.
“Following the conclusion of the West Indies Championship, we are pleased to have more first-class matches on the calendar,” Haynes said in a CWI news release yesterday announcing the squads.
“This is a great initiative and will provide our players with more opportunities as we look ahead to the very important Test series against India later in the year, as well as ‘A’ Team matches.
“We looked at everyone who was available, and we came up with teams who will be very competitive and push each other.”
The CWI news release noted that West Indies ODI captain Shai Hope was selected for the tri-series, but he was given permission to represent Yorkshire in the English County Championship.
The news release also indicated that burly off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall, the most successful bowler in the West Indies Championship this season with 35 wickets, and out-of-favour Test wicketkeeper-batsman Shane Dowrich made themselves unavailable for selection.
Team Headley and Team Weekes (named in honour of late former West Indies batsmen George Headley and Everton Weekes) were drawn from the leading performers in the West Indies Championship, which ended last month, and those deemed to be on the fringe of the West Indies Test team, the CWI news release indicated.
Bravo, 34, had the second highest aggregate of 446 in the Championship. He played the last of his 56 Tests for West Indies against hosts New Zealand in December 2020 in Wellington.
Ambris finished in the top five batsmen in the Championship with 363 runs for runners-up Windward Islands Volcanoes, and left-handed opener Powell finished seventh with 347 runs for Leeward Islands Hurricanes.
Ambris, 30, played the last of six Tests against hosts Bangladesh in December 2018 in Mirpur, and Powell, 33, played the last of 44 Tests against Pakistan in August 2021 in Jamaica.
Da Silva and Athanaze, the leading batsman in the Championship with 647 runs, have been chosen to lead the two sides, clearly with a view to them becoming West Indies Test captains in the long-term.
King has become a regular in the West Indies white-ball sides, and this has meant limited opportunities to play in the Championship, but he has shown in the past that he has the game to transcend the formats, and he has a chance to prove it now.
Apart from Da Silva, nine players that have been members of the Test squad in its past six matches have been included.
Squads:
TEAM HEADLEY: Joshua Da Silva (captain), Sunil Ambris, Darren Bravo, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Chaim Holder, Akeem Jordan, Marquino Mindley, Shayne Moseley, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Kieran Powell, Tevyn Walcott.
TEAM WEEKES: Alick Athanaze (captain), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Keacy Carty, Dominic Drakes, Jahmar Hamilton, Brandon King, Jair McAllister, Zachary McCaskie, Veerasammy Permaul, Raymon Reifer, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith, Devon Thomas.
WEST INDIES ACADEMY: Kevlon Anderson, Ackeem Auguste, Joshua Bishop, Teddy Bishop, McKenny Clarke, Rivaldo Clarke, Joshua James, Johann Layne, Kirk McKenzie, Ashmead Nedd, Kelvin Pitman, Keagan Simmons, Ramon Simmonds, Kevin Wickham, Nyeem Young.
