John Campbell and Anderson Phillip have received call-ups up to the West Indies squad to take on England in the first Test, which begins in Antigua next month after impressive performances in the regional four-day competition.
Meanwhile, senior players like Roston Chase, Shai Hope, Rahkeem Cornwall, Jeremy Solozano and Jomel Warrican have been left out as they’d been included in the squad that lost the series against Sri Lanka 3-0 in November and December in 2021. Shannon Gabriel is still affected by his hamstring injury and misses out as a result, although he could be available later in the series.
Desmond Haynes had been chosen as the chief selector for the West Indies cricket board earlier this year, replacing Roger Harper. Haynes had communicated that the first Test squad selected under him would send a clear message to the players that top performances in first-class cricket will be awarded, with call-ups to the senior men’s side.
With that being said, Haynes is also someone who likes to think outside the box. Nicholas Pooran’s potential and ability in white-ball cricket is quite evident, but the current management are also encouraging him to play red-ball cricket at the international level despite him being uncapped at Test level and having made only five first-class appearances in his career.
“This is the message which we’re sending to the batters because we need to get our batting right. People question how strong our domestic competition is but the main fact is that if the guys are playing in it and doing well, yes, they would be up for selection.
“It’s important for these guys when they’re playing in the domestic season to do well, to catch our eye. We’re a new panel, Sars [Ramnaresh Sarwan, the other selector] and myself, and we want to see the players and make sure that when we’re judging them on their ability, they’ve got some runs as well, but also they can play a role that we want them to play.
Haynes said.
