By Neto Baptiste
Antigua and Barbuda’s Devon Thomas is amongst three uncapped players named in a 12-man West Indies squad selected to play the first Test against Bangladesh at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua from June 16-20.
The wicket-keeper batsman, who last played for the senior regional squad in 2021 against Pakistan in a T20 match, could play his first Test on home soil should he make the final 11. The Antiguan last featured in an ODI match in 2013 against Australia.
In his 21 ODI matches, Thomas has scored 238 runs with a highest of 37 while scoring just two runs in four T20 International matches but has an overall 1391 runs in 101 T20 showings.
The Leeward Islands player has had quite the successful First Class career with 5092 runs in 100 matches.
Thomas is joined by fellow Antiguan and Leeward Islands player, fast bowler Alzarri Joseph in the 12-man squad for next week’s Test.
The other uncapped players are left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie and fast bowler Anderson Phillip.
Meanwhile, experienced fast bowler Kemar Roach is to undergo a fitness assessment as he recovers from an injury sustained in the English County Championship with Surrey. If he is deemed fit, he will be included as the 13th player in the Test squad.
All-rounder 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. Batter Tagenarine Chanderpaul and fast bowler Shermon Lewis have been selected as reserves.
Motie has so far played one T20I and was a reserve for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates last year.
Phillip was in the squad throughout the recent Apex Test Series victory against England but has not made his debut to date. He has featured in three ODIs, including last week’s 3-0 Series win against the Netherlands. The Test squad also includes left-handed all-rounder Raymon Reifer, who has one match on his record.
“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,” said lead selector Sir Desmond Haynes.
“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. 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. 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.”
The Selection Panel also named the CWI President’s XI to face the visitors in a three-day warm-up match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua from Friday, June 10 to Sunday, June 12. The team will be captained by all-rounder Yannic Cariah.
“Yannic Cariah has captained Trinidad and Tobago at youth level and he was also the captain of the West Indies Emerging Players team which won the CG United Super50 Cup in 2019,” Haynes said.
Test squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (Captain), Jermaine Blackwood (Vice Captain), Nkrumah Bonner, John Campbell, Joshua Da Silva, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Raymon Reifer, Jayden Seales and Devon Thomas.
Reserves: Tagernarine Chanderpaul, Shermon Lewis