The West Indies, last week, became the final team to release their 15-man squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup, taking place in England & Wales, next month. With a change at the top of Cricket West Indies came the expectation that the ‘big names’ of the region’s game would waltz into the team, to contest the 12th edition of the tournament. On the contrary and to the genuine surprise of some, the core of the Jason Holder-led side was retained to follow the Bajan into his second tournament at the helm.
Sidestepping the audacity of those who were prattling about a change in captaincy, heading into the World Cup – on the premise that the ‘discarded’ players would have been included; we acknowledge that Holder, who – on his last trip to the 50-over competition – was indeed captain, returns as leader, this time around. The surprise inclusions to the squad are undoubtedly Fabian Allen and Shannon Gabriel, less so Nicholas Pooran. While, the eyebrow-raising omissions were that of veteran – Marlon Samuels and young Keemo Paul. The full squad reads: Jason Holder ©, Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope (wk), Darren Bravo, Nicholas Pooran, Carlos Brathwaite, Shimron Hetmyer, Oshane Thomas, Ashley Nurse, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Andre Russell, Sheldon Cottrell and Fabian Allen.
A Learnt West Indies?
During England’s recent limited-overs series in the West Indies, we identified the weaknesses in this team as being;
- The inability to finish an innings,
- ineffective death-bowling and a lack of death-bowlers themselves,
- futile spinners – translating to a lack of wicket-taking options in the middle overs.
- As well as, imbalance, stemming from the absence of a top-order batsman which offers the captain the additional option of five or six decent overs on a consistent basis.
- While, finally stressing the need for this West Indian team and coaching staff to appreciate specialist batsmen and bowlers in their respective roles.
Full Story
