West Indies Name Squads For Upcoming Tours

The West Indies Cricket Board on Friday announced the teams for the upcoming One-Day Series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and the two Tests in New Zealand. The team will play against Pakistan on Wednesday, November 12; Friday, November 14 and Sunday, November 16. The two Tests in New Zealand will be at Dunedin (December 11-15) and Napier (December 19-23) to be followed by two T20 Internationals and five ODIs. Head Coach John Dyson said the players were looking forward to the tours and noted that the trip to Abu Dhabi is a chance to continue the good work done during the tri-nation series in Canada in August, while the tour of New Zealand is a chance to move up the ICC rankings. “Abu Dhabi is a time for us to build on the good performances that we made in Canada in August. Chris Gayle batted strongly in that series as did Xavier Marshall, at his new Number 4 spot. Newcomers Brendan Nash, Leon Johnson and Shaun Findlay showed that they are ready to perform against Pakistan who are currently ranked at Number 6, two places higher than West Indies,” Dyson said. “The series is a further opportunity for our spinners, Nikita Miller and Dave Mohammed, to impress and provide the variety we need to balance the established pace attack. Kemar Roach is expected to press the senior bowlers for a spot in the team.” The Windies are ranked at Number 8 in the ICC Test Match ranking one point behind New Zealand. The opportunity is there to move up the ladder, Dyson noted. “The New Zealand series will be hard fought. New Zealand is ranked one place higher than us at Number 7 and a series win might see West Indies overtake New Zealand. Like all the top teams, we will be looking for strong performances from our experienced, senior players,” Dyson said. “We have a strong pace attack in Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell and Fidel Edwards supported by the promising newcomers Roach and Lionel Baker. Nash will be a handful on the New Zealand wickets and Sulieman Benn should find the wickets more to his liking compared with the flat wickets he has bowled on in the Caribbean. Denesh Ramdin will be looking forward to returning to the team and continuing his excellent wicket-keeping form in Test cricket.” The Head Coach added: “Much responsibility for runs will be on the broad shoulders of Shiv Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle and Ronnie Sarwan and the tour is a wonderful chance for Marshall and Sewnarine Chattergoon to cement their places in team with plenty of runs.” Teams for upcoming Tours: For Abu Dhabi: Chris Gayle (Captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (Vice Captain), Lionel Baker, Carlton Baugh, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Shawn Findlay, Leon Johnson, Xavier Marshall, Nikita Miller, Dave Mohammed, Brendan Nash, Daren Powell, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor. For Test matches New Zealand: Chris Gayle (Captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (Vice Captain), Lionel Baker, Carlton Baugh, Sulieman Benn, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Fidel Edwards, Leon Johnson, Xavier Marshall, Brendan Nash, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor. ©WICB