Three West Indies players refuse to tour England for Test series

ST JOHN’S (ANTIGUA) : Three West Indies players -- Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul -- on Wednesday refused to tour England for next month’s proposed three-Test series, which will be conducted in a biosecure environment to combat the COVID-19 threat.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced a 14-man squad for the series, which is expected to mark resumption of international cricket if it gets the final approval from the UK government.

“Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul all declined the invitation to travel to England for the tour and CWI fully respects their decision to choose to do so,” Cricket West Indies said in a statement.

“As previously stated, CWI will not hold this decision against these players when considering future selection,” it added.

The specific reasons for their withdrawal were not given by CWI.

The West Indies squad will live, train and play in a “bio-secure” environment during the seven weeks of the tour, as part of the “comprehensive” medical and operations plans to ensure player and staff safety.

“The bio-secure protocols will restrict movement in and out of the venues, so the selection panel has also named a list of reserve players who will travel to train and help prepare the Test squad and ensure replacements are available in case of any injury,” said CWI.

The touring party, which will be tested for COVID-19 this week, is scheduled to fly to England on a chartered flight on June 8.

The series starting July 8 will be held at Hampshire’s Ageas

Bowl and Lancashire’s Old Trafford as both these venues have on-site hotels.The first Test will be held from July 8-12 while the remaining two at Old Trafford (July 16-20 and July 24-28).

The two newcomers to the Test squad are middle-order batsman Nkrumah Bonner and fast bowler Chemar Holder.

The 22-year-old Holder, who is not related to West Indies captain Jason Holder, was the leading fast bowler in the national championship with 36 wickets in eight matches at 18.91 each, and was part of the ICC Under-19 World Cup winning side in 2016.

Bonner, 31, is in line to make his Test debut after being one of the leading batsmen in the 2020 West Indies Championship with 523 runs in seven matches at an average of 58.11.

He has previously represented the West Indies in two T20 Internationals back in 2011 and 2012.