Veterans Dwayne Bravo and Keiron Pollard have been named in the list of ten players that Cricket West Indies announced on Sunday (May 19) as reserves for the forthcoming 50-over World Cup in England and Wales.
Bravo had actually bid adieu to international cricket last year, but has been reintroduced to the set-up, while Pollard wasn't picked in the original squad despite his decent showing in the just-concluded IPL season. This is the result of a change in administrative guard at the board ever since president Ricky Skerritt took over the job from Dave Cameron.
"The choice of players in the reserve list is to really cover our bases and ensure we have a good balance in the pool of players that can be selected if replacements are required," Robert Haynes, the interim chairman of selectors, said in an official statement.
"We think the skill set in this pool is strong with a good blend of experience and upcoming young players who can be ready to contribute when required."
Having just concluded the tri-series in Ireland with a loss in the final against Bangladesh, West Indies will continue preparing for the World Cup via a training camp in Hampshire from May 19-23. This camp includes an additional warm-up game versus Australia at Southampton on May 22 before the two official ICC organised ones with South Africa and New Zealand at Bristol on May 26 and 28 respectively.
"We are very grateful to Hampshire CCC for agreeing to host us at the Ageas Bowl and to Cricket Australia for agreeing to the additional warm-up game," Johnny Grave, CEO Cricket West Indies, said. "Due to the commitments and promises made, to both our players and the BCCI, this is the first time that our entire World Cup squad can get together since the IPL finished."
"We are confident that these additional five days of training and the extra warm-up game will mean that our players will be ready to perform at their best in our opening match (at Trent Bridge) against Pakistan on the 31st May."
Sunil Ambris and John Campbell have also been rewarded for their good performance in the tri-series. While Ambris struck 278 runs in his four games at an average of 92.67 and a strike-rate of 101.83, Campbell got out only once in the tournament and made 179 runs at a strike-rate of 130.66.
Ten-player reserve list for the upcoming World Cup: Sunil Ambris, Dwayne Bravo, John Campbell, Jonathan Carter, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Raymon Reifer, Kieron Pollard.
West Indies full 15-member squad for the World Cup: Jason Holder (c), Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Ashley Nurse, Fabian Allen, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope (wk), Oshane Thomas, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Evin Lewis.
