England touring party could be 25 players
- says Simmons
West Indies Head Coach, Phil Simmons is of the firm belief that there will be more than 15 players selected in the West Indies side for their three-Test tour of England set for July.
Simmons was speaking on I955 radio recently where he shared his views on the tour, which so far is set to begin on July 8 with the team expected to travel exactly one month prior.
West Indies selectors, led by chairman Roger Harper, has selected a provisional 30-man squad for the tour but that is expected to be trimmed down.
“The reduction depends on what happens in the next couple of meetings between the two boards,” Simmons stated.
“Once things are signed off then we will make a decision as to the number and the number of people to go on the tour,” he added.
Simmons has described the tour as a “unique but difficult situation for the selectors while rationalizing the context of the tour amid the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic.
“It is a unique situation because you have to bring your squad plus you have to bring your back up everything because once you come into that for lack of a better term bubble, because no one can come in, if you have an injury you have to have people in there so that is why I think it is a unique but difficult situation for the selectors,” he said.
Simmons affirmed, “Yes it will be more than 15, the exact number we don’t know yet, but as I said before if you play the first Test and someone gets injured you usually there is one flight from the Caribbean in a normal situation somebody could replace them but this situation when you get here you would have 14 days quarantine and everything so we can’t take that chance so it will definitely be more than 15.”
West Indies provisional squad: John Campbell (Jamaica), Jermaine Blackwood (Jamaica), Nkrumah Bonner (Jamaica), Paul Palmer Jr (Jamaica), Marquino Mindley (Jamaica), Daren Bravo (T&T), Joshua da Silva (T&T), Anderson Phillip (T&T), Shannon Gabriel (T&T), Sunil Ambris (Windwards), Preston McSween (Windwards), Alzarri Joseph (Leewards), Jahmar Hamilton (Leewards), Rahkeem Cornwall (Leewards),
PERTH, (Reuters) - Relief and excitement are the overwhelming emotions for Afghanistan after Australia confirmed they would host them for a one-off test in Perth from Nov. 21, the chief executive of the country’s cricket board has told Reuters.
Uncertainty loomed over Afghanistan’s first ever test against Australia due to travel and other restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
However, Cricket Australia gave the day-night match the green light on Thursday when it announced its summer schedule headlined by a marquee series against India.
“There were rumours that this test match might not go ahead but it is a relief for us and our cricket fans that we have been given a confirmation,” Chief Executive Lutfullah Stanikzai told Reuters in an interview.
“The world in general – and the
Shimron Hetmyer (Guyana), Veerasammy Permaul (Guyana), Keemo Paul (Guyana), Jason Holder (Barbados), Kraigg Brathwaite (Barbados), Shayne Mosely (Barbados), Kemar Roach (Barbados), Chemar Holder (Barbados), Keon Harding (Barbados), Shane Dowrich (Barbados), Shai Hope (Barbados), Kyle Mayers (Barbados), Roston Chase (Barbados), Shamarh Brooks (Barbados), Jomel Warrican (Barbados) cricketing world in particular – may not be the same after the coronavirus but we have to move on and cricket has to return.”
Having had to postpone a tour of Zimbabwe next month due to travel restrictions, the importance of the match against the world’s top ranked test team was not lost on the Afghan board.
“It’s going to be a fantastic opportunity for our players’ development and in general for the development of Afghanistan cricket,” Stanikzai said.
“Everyone in the cricket world, especially in test cricket, looks up to Australia. It’s going to be a historic and memorable occasion for Afghanistan as a new cricketing nation to play Australia in a test match.”
The test newcomers, who were awarded the coveted red-ball status in 2017, will not be completely unknown quantities to Australian cricket fans.
Players such as Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have become fan-favourites in Australia’s Big Bash League with their fearless hitting and economical spin-bowling.
While there may still be restrictions that affect how many fans, if any, can watch the test at the 60,000seater Perth Stadium, Stanikzai said it was important to see the big picture. “The important thing is that the fans get an opportunity to see Afghanistan playing against Australia. Although it might be different, there might not be any spectators and so on ...
“We are hoping that by November the situation will improve and we will see good cricket between both countries.”
Afghanistan have played four tests to date, losing to India and West Indies and beating Ireland and Bangladesh.