The West Indies selectors have included two Grenadians in a 17-man squad for the upcoming Test Series tour of England. The tour starts on April 21 and will include three warm-up matches and two Test matches.In making the announcement at a Media conference at Three Ws Oval in Barbados, Clyde Butts the Chairman of Selectors, expressed confidence that the team will be able to defend the Wisden Trophy won in the recent five-match Digicel Series in the Caribbean.
Three members of the team — opener Dale Richards, and fast bowlers Andrew Richardson and Nelon Pascal -– are yet to play Test cricket; while Narsingh Deonarine and David Bernard have been recalled.“This year Richardson has been bowling very well and deserves his selection. He is tall, accurate and has the ability to get wicket at crucial stages in the game. Pascal has been doing well and he has some pace and can be a handful. The selectors believe he should be given the chance to grow and feature at the international level,” Butts said.
The left-handed Deonarine has made over 1 000 runs in this year’s West Indies Cricket Board’s Four-day First-class Competition, while Bernard, the right-handed allrounder, earns a recall six years after his last match in the maroon cap.
“Bernard has been out for a while, but over the years has been a consistent performer for Jamaica and this year has come to the show,” Butts added. “Deonarine has made over 1 000 and has betted really well. We felt he needed to get scores and take his game to another level and he did just that. He has been consistent and deserves this chance.”
SQUAD:
Chris Gayle (captain), Denesh Ramdin (vice captain), Lionel Baker, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Fidel Edwards, Brendan Nash, Nelon Pascal, Dale Richards, Andrew Richardson, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor.
Test Tour schedule
April 21-23: vs Leicestershire at Grace Road
April 25-27: vs Essex at Chelmsford
April 30 to May 3: vs England Lions at County Ground, Derby
May 6-10: 1st Test at Lord’s
April 14-18: 2nd Test at Chester-le-Street
