Taylor recalled for T20I series
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 (T20I) 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.
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.
SAME GROUP
“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.”
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.
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, 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, Devon Thomas.