Pollard to lead West Indies in limited-overs series against Ireland, England

St John’s (Antigua) :  Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Saturday (IST) announced the squads for the upcoming limited-overs series against Ireland and England, with Kieron Pollard as the captain for both the series.

Three players — Keacy Carty, Sheldon Cottrell, Hayden Walsh Jr — have been kept as COVID-19 reserves for the ODI series against Ireland, while Jayden Seales, Alzarri Joseph ad Devon Thomas are the COVID-19 reserves for the two T20I series.

The West Indies will start the New Year at Sabina Park, Jamaica as they host Ireland in the three-match One-Day International series and a one-off T20 International from January 8 to 16. The two-time world champions will then travel to Barbados to face England in five T20Is at Kensington Oval from January 22 to 30.

“We have tried to maintain the general make-up of the squads from the Pakistan tour before Christmas, with the captain and some senior players coming back in. COVID-19 has also played a part in the final make-up of the squad. The challenges in the next couple months are getting the young players in both squads to not only improve on their skills but maintain the attitude and desire we saw in Pakistan,” head coach Phil Simmons said.

“We do need to start the year on a high. And we know both Ireland and England have very good teams, so we expect a very strong challenge as we look improve our chances of automatic qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2023 and building the T20 team for the ICC T20 World Cup in 2022.”

The ODI series between West Indies and Ireland will be a part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League, in which the top seven teams can secure automatic qualification for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.

CWI also said that Evin Lewis and Anderson Phillip were unavailable for selection due to recent COVID-19 positive tests, while Fabian Allen had recovered from an ankle injury but was unavailable for the Ireland series due to a COVID-19 positive test. Obed McCoy was also unavailable due to rehabilitation on a shin injury.

Squads:

ODIs vs Ireland: Kieron Pollard (captain), Shai Hope (vice-captain), Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Justin Greaves, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Devon Thomas. (COVID-19 reserves — Keacy Carty, Sheldon Cottrell, Hayden Walsh Jr).

T20Is vs Ireland and England: Kieron Pollard (captain), Nicholas Pooran (vice-captain), Fabian Allen (England T20Is only), Darren Bravo (England T20Is only), Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Shai Hope, Akel Hosein, Jason Holder, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh Jr. (COVID-19 reserves — Jayden Seales, Alzarri Joseph, Devon Thomas).

Match schedule: (For Ireland series) January 8: 1st ODI; January 11: 2nd ODI; January 14: 3rd ODI; January 16: one-off T20I.

(For England series) January 22: 1st T20I; January 23: 2nd T20I; January 26: 3rd T20I; January 29: 4th T20I; January 30: 5th T20I.