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.<\/p>\n
Cricket West Indies today announced its 15-member squad for the December 1-21, series against New Zealand in Christchurch, Wellington and Mt Maunganui.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Roach, 37, last played a Test in January, in Multan during their tour of Pakistan.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Windies director of cricket Miles Bascombe said: \u201cNew Zealand has traditionally been one of the toughest places for any touring side, which is why strong emphasis has been placed on targeted preparation. <\/p>\n
“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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
West Indies Test squad to face NZ<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n