In a shocking turn of events, Cricket West Indies has announced an inexperienced 15-member squad for the upcoming tour of Australia, early next year, where as many as seven uncapped players made it to the team. To make the matters worse for them, their former skipper Jason Holder, has been left out of the squad, after he wanted to focus on T20s, prior to the T20 World Cup 2024.
As per a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, there would be a minimum of four debutants in the West Indies playing XI in the first Test at Adelaide, beginning January 17. What is even more striking is, the entire WI squad has a Test experience of 235 matches, with only four of them having played more than eight matches.
Australia vs West Indies, A Comparison
Now compare this to the Aussie side, Nathan Lyon (123), and David Warner (110), alone have an experience of 233 Tests. On opting out from the Australia tour, Holder told ESPN, “It’s my first time going through something like this and I felt that it was necessary to be as honest and as open with CWI as I possibly can.”
“It was a very difficult decision. I just feel as though this is the right cricketing decision for me at this time. It was a difficult one but as much as I love Test cricket, I want to give myself the best chance of playing in that World Cup.”
On the other hand, their chief selector Desmond Haynes told Sydney Morning Herald, “The squad has been affected by the unavailability of some key players.
“However, we have had a very strong red-ball program being run over the past year, which has unearthed significant talent throughout the region. The selected players have passed each test given to them and must now be given the opportunity to showcase their skills in the test arena. Australia away is always a challenge, but we are confident in our team.”
West Indies Squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Alzarri Joseph (vc), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Justin Greaves, Joshua DaSilva, Akeem Jordan, Gudakesh Motie, Kemar Roach, Kevin Sinclair, Tevin Imlach, Shamar Joseph, Zachary McCaskie
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