ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Cricket West Indies (CWI) Senior Men’s Selection Panel today announced that Johnson Charles has been named as the replacement for Gudakesh Motie in the 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament to be played in Zimbabwe, starting on Sunday 18 June.

Left-arm spinner Motie has not recovered from a lower back injury. Charles recently made a return to the West Indies ODI team for the ongoing three match ODI series against United Arab Emirates in Sharjah. He scored 63 in the second match, his 50th ODI appearance, and was named Player of the Match.

Lead Selector, The Most Hon. Dr Desmond Haynes said: “We want to wish Motie the best as he continues his rehabilitation. He is one of the players who we expect to feature in West Indies cricket going forward, so we want to see him recover fully so he can participate when called upon.”

Haynes added: “When we discussed the replacement player, we looked at the possibility of another spinner in the squad. However, we felt it was better to go with Charles. He is experienced at the international level, he will add value to the team for what will be a very important tournament. He also has knowledge of the Zimbabwe conditions having played ODI matches there before, so we see him as the right man for the job at this stage.”

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

Where is Dr Serendipity?!

Haynes is confused and he is doing a good job confusing us. How do replace a spinner with an opening batsman, when you already have King and Myers as ur established opening pair and good old Hope is there to step in as the 3rd opener? So we are going to play on slow turning wickets yet we going a spinner short? I don’t get it

So which bowler would have been an appropriate swap for Motie?

In reply to TheTrail

In reply to imusic

Sinclair

Maybe they want to have an opening pair of King/Charles ....