West Indies have named seven uncapped players in their 15-man squad for their upcoming two-match Test series in Australia.
West Indies will tour Australia for the Frank Worrell Trophy, with two Test matches to be held in January 2024. Captain Kraigg Brathwaite will be joined by Alzarri Joseph as his new deputy.
They will be without injured Jayden Shields, as well as Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers, who are both busy in the Twenty20 League. The team also includes seven uncapped players, with at least three of them making their debuts in the first friendly alone.
Mayers, Nkrumah Bonner and Shane Moseley have only appeared once for the West since Kingstown in 2009 when disagreements between frontline cricketers and the board forced them into the second team. (2020/21 Chattogram). The Indians made their debut in the same Test match.
Who are the seven uncapped West Indies players for their Test tour to Australia?
Zachary McCaskie (batter, Barbados)
The 27-year-old McCaskey is a right-handed opening batsman but has failed to score a hundred in 11 first-class matches and averages just 30.52 in the format. However, last month he scored 62 and 50 against South Africa’s A attack consisting of Dane Patterson and Dane Peat, which no doubt influenced his selection.
Tevin Imlach (wicketkeeper, Guyana)
Imlach will be filling in for Joshua da Silva on tour. He was part of the West Indies team at the 2016 Under-19 World Cup, but it took nearly three more years for him to play first-class cricket. He averages 28.28 runs with the bat, but much of that is due to his 46 runs against Jamaica earlier this year, where he scored 136 runs and took 6 of his wickets.
Justin Greaves (all-rounder, Barbados, Windward Islands)
As a member of the 2012 U-19 World Cup team, Greaves played in three ODIs on the 2022 tour of Ireland, but to no avail. His batting average of 26.97 is not impressive, but his seam bowling has helped him pick up 76 wickets in 37 first-class matches at a rate of 22.76. Earlier this year, he scored his 131 runs and his 15 wickets in his second consecutive match of the four-day championship.
Kavem Hodge (all-rounder, Windward Islands)
Hodge, Greaves’ 2012 World Cup teammate, supports his intermediate stroke (29.07 average) with left-arm spin (37.70). In his match against the UAE in June 2023, Arik became his second Dominican to play in an ODI after Athanadze.
Kevin Sinclair (all-rounder, Guyana)
Sinclair has played both ODIs and T20Is and was part of the Test squad when West Indies hosted India earlier this year. With 220 runs at 44 including off-breaks and 12 wickets at 25.91, he was West Indies A’s best player in the recent unofficial ‘Test’ series against South Africa A. These numbers line up well with his career averages of 31, 48, and 24.33. .
Akeem Jordan (fast bowler, Barbados)
Jordan played alongside Hodge in an ODI against UAE this year. However, he is 29 years old and only made his first-class debut in 2022, taking 12 wickets in his first two matches. They defeated Bangladesh A team 5-45 in Sylhet in May 2023 and have 59 first-class wickets so far (as of 10:08 pm). If he plays, he will be the oldest specialist pacer to make his debut for West Indies in Test cricket since Kenroy Peters in 2014-15.
Shamar Joseph (fast bowler, Guyana)
Joseph was the father of a one-year-old child when he quit his job at a security firm and played cricket full-time earlier this year. Since then, he has only played nine professional games. After he made just three first-class appearances, he was quickly promoted to the West Indies senior team. He scored 3-57 and 1-57 against South Africa A, then 3-65 and 5-76. The final over in which he dropped all five wickets in the innings is noteworthy.
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