Devon Thomas has been knocking on the door for quite some time – says CWI selector on his addition
West Indies have added three uncapped players to their Test squad to take on Bangladesh at home from June 16, 2022, while the uncapped players are left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie, pacer Anderson Philip, and wicket-keeper batter Devon Thomas.
West Indies have added three uncapped players to their Test squad to take on Bangladesh at home from June 16, 2022.
The uncapped players are left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie, pacer Anderson Philip, and wicketkeeper batter Devon Thomas. However, Thomas and Motie have played white-ball cricket for West Indies, and Philip is yet to make his debut in any format.
West Indies will also be without the services of senior all-rounder Jason Holder after he’d requested a break.
“Allrounder Jason Holder is unavailable for selection as CWI has granted his request for a period of rest and recovery. He will therefore miss Bangladesh’s all-format tour of the West Indies,”
said a statement from Cricket West Indies (CWI).
Additionally, the squad also does not include Kemar Roach who sustained an injury while playing in County Championship in England and will now have to undergo a fitness test.
“If he is passed fit, he will be included as the 13th player in the Test squad,”
stated CWI.
Shamarh Brooks and Veerasammy Permaul are the ones to drop from the West Indies squad that won against England earlier this year.
Commenting on the selection, lead selector Desmond Haynes said,
“Devon Thomas has been knocking on the door for quite some time. He has done extremely well in our franchise cricket system and we view this as a good opportunity to give him a go. You would notice that Raymon Reifer is also in the squad. He is another person that has done impressively well in the four-day competition and against England (earlier this year). So again, we are giving opportunities to guys who are performing. We think Gudakesh Motie is one of those guys who is also bowling well, and we think it will be a good opportunity for him to be involved.”
West Indies are currently placed sixth in the World Test Championship while Bangladesh is placed ninth in the points table.
“We are looking to pick up World Test Championship points against Bangladesh which will be very important. It would be good for us to use our home advantage to win both Test matches and collect those points,”
said Haynes.
West Indies Test squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Jermaine Blackwood(VC), Nkrumah Bonner, John Campbell, Joshua Da Silva, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Raymon Reifer, Jayden Seales, Devon Thomas
Reserves: Tagernarine Chanderpaul, Shermon Lewis