A 15-member team, comprising those called up for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 World Cup and other hopefuls, was announced by Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Sunday, as they prepare to face South Africa in a three-match series later this week.
While Brandon King has been named the interim T20 Captain, Roston Chase will act in the capacity of Vice Captain; while Guyanese Shamar Joseph is likely to make his T20I debut, having been named on the squad.
The Windies men arrived in Jamaica on Monday morning, where Captain King spoke on his eagerness to play in front of his home crowd and even more so, lead the West Indies there.
Newly-minted West Indian Captain for the South Africa T20s, Brandon King
A smiling King told CWI Media, “Obviously, extremely happy. I’m always excited to play at home; you know, the last time we were here was against New Zealand a couple years ago. So, it’s good that we get some cricket, especially leading up to the World Cup, you build that excitement with the fans. So, I’m happy about it.”
“Definitely, it couldn’t be scripted better. It’s an honour to lead West Indies in any capacity and it’s even more nice to do it at home. So, I’m very happy,” the newly-minted Captain expressed.
King, in the chat with CWI Media, went on to share how important preparation and practice will be ahead of the World Cup next month.
“It’s part of the preparation. Match practice is something you can’t replicate in training, so, obviously we’re coming from a training camp and this is our opportunity to put the plans and skills in place. So, we’re very much looking forward to it,” King shared.
The Captain for the upcoming series added, “As you say, a few of the guys are not here as yet, but I think the communication has been clear with the whole group, you know, we know how we want to play. And the guys that are here, we’re looking to implement that in this series and see how it goes and hopefully that’s good preparation for us.”
Aside from King, Chase and Joseph, the remainder of the West Indies squad reads: Fabian Allen, Alick Athanaze, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Matthew Forde, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Gudakesh Motie, Romario Shepherd and Hayden Walsh Jr.
West Indies and South Africa will battle at Sabina Park, Kingston on Thursday, May 23; Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26, beginning at 15:00h local time daily.
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