West Indies select Gayle & Pooran for first two ODIs

GROS ISLET, Saint Lucia – Chris Gayle will make a return to WINDIES colours, while Nicholas Pooran has earned his maiden call-up in the 50-over format as CWI Selection Panel named the 14-member squad for the first and second One-Day Internationals against England.

The 39-year-old Gayle is the second most capped WINDIES player with 284 matches in his illustrious career. He is also the second leading runscorer with 9,727 runs in behind Brian Lara with 10,405 runs in 299 appearances. Gayle also has 165 wickets (average 35.3) with his clever off-spin bowling. The experienced left-hander has the most centuries by a West Indian in this format – 23 – as well as the highest score – 215 against Zimbabwe in the ICC Cricket World Cup four years ago.

Pooran is a 23-year-old left-hander who can also keep wicket. He has so far played eight T20 Internationals with a strike rate of 152.57 and a highest score of 53 not outChairman of Selectors, Courtney Browne said the upcoming five-match series is a vital part of the preparations for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup – to be played in England and Wales from May 31 to July 15. He explained that experienced batsman Marlon Samuels is unavailable due to treatment on a knee injury.
“As we continue our Cricket World Cup preparations, the upcoming series against the top ranked ODI side is a great opportunity for us to gauge where we are as a team. This allows us to identify any areas that need addressing relating to selection and also helps the coaching staff to fine tune their game strategy,” Browne said.

“We welcome the return of Chris Gayle who missed the last two series and Ashley Nurse from injury. We are pleased to introduce Nicholas Pooran to the ODI cricket for the first time. He is clearly a young player with undoubted talent and we believe he can add value to our middle order. Shannon Gabriel remains very much in our World Cup plans but with a heavy workload expected in the Test series he will be considered for selection later in the ODI series.”

The matches will be played at Kensington Oval on Wednesday, February 20 and Friday, February 22.

FULL SQUAD

Jason Holder (Captain), Fabian Allen, Devendra Bishoo
Darren Bravo, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer
Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse
Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran,, Rovman Powell
Kemar Roach, Oshane Thomas