The West Indies have picked an exciting Teenage player, Jayden Seales in their Windies 13-man squad for the first Test against South Africa, which starts on Thursday.
Seales, who was included in the West Indies’ preliminary 17-man squad earlier this month, will now be looking to make his Test debut against the touring South Africa team at St Lucia.
Seales’ selection comes after it was announced that pace spearhead Shannon Gabriel would be unavailable for selection due to injury.
After being left out of the team against Sri Lanka earlier this year Shai Hope, Roston Chase, and Kieran Powell have all been included to the 13-man group.
Powell’s last Test was against Bangladesh in early 2018, while Hope’s last was in England in July of the last year.
WINDIES SQUAD:
Windies 13-Man squad includes a 19-Year-Old for the first Test against SA. Kraigg Brathwaite (Captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Da Silva, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales.
In a series of intra-squad games, Seales, who has played 10 professional matches up to date, wowed national selectors.
“Jayden Seales is young, very enthusiastic and has a big heart. In the ‘Best v Best’ matches he bowled with pace, got movement and has displayed the ability to take wickets. We think he is capable of adding potency to the bowling attack,” said CWI chief selector Roger Harper of Seales’ inclusion.
Seales initially came to fame during the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, where he took ten wickets at an average of 18.30 in six matches.
“Kieran Powell we know is a very capable batsman who we expect to add quality and depth to the batting department,” Harper added. “He put himself in the mix with his performance in the Best v Best match.
“Shai Hope has performed very well in the red ball matches he has played, following on the back of his highly successful One-Day International series against Sri Lanka, so he has forced his way into the squad by performance.”
Harper added: “The aim is to continue to build on the performances of the last two Test series and to keep improving as a Test team. We must continue the process of working hard, playing with great passion, playing with determination and a great desire to succeed. Doing that consistently will bring us the right results. The training camp gave the players the opportunity to prepare for the Betway Test series in all departments, considering that no real red-ball cricket has been played since the series against Sri Lanka in March.”
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