The West Indies cricket team has brought back a veteran fast bowler to replenish the attack against the Black Caps in three-Test series next month.
Cricket West Indies today announced its 15-member squad for the December 1-21, series against New Zealand in Christchurch, Wellington and Mt Maunganui.
The big talking point is the recall of 85-Test veteran fast bowler Kemar Roach, bolstering an inexperienced fast-bowling selection including maiden call-up, Ojay Shields.
Roach, 37, last played a Test in January, in Multan during their tour of Pakistan.
Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph are both yet to fully recover from injuries sustained earlier this year, and have been ruled out of the series.
Shields and Roach were among several players at a two-week high-performance camp in Antigua, in preparation for the New Zealand series where playing surfaces are expected to be conducive to pace.
At the crease, Kavem Hodge returns to the squad on the back of previous success against pace. Khary Pierre has been left out with spin-bowling not expected to play a major role over the three-match series.
Windies director of cricket Miles Bascombe said: “New Zealand has traditionally been one of the toughest places for any touring side, which is why strong emphasis has been placed on targeted preparation.
"The recent high-performance camp here in Antigua was designed to replicate, as closely as possible, the conditions we expect to face, particularly the pace-friendly surfaces.”
“That level of intentional preparation, combined with the advantage of several squad members already in New Zealand for the white-ball portion of the tour gaining valuable time to acclimate, means this group goes into this series as well-prepared as any West Indies squad to tour there in recent years.”
West Indies Test squad to face NZ
Roston Chase (Captain), Jomel Warrican (Vice- Captain), Alick Athanaze, John Campbell, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Shai Hope, Tevin Imlach, Brandon King, Johann Layne, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Ojay Shields.
The Tests will be screened on TVNZ+ and TVNZ 1.
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