St John’s (Antigua), Oct 14 Top-order batter Kevin Wickham has earned his maiden Test call-up to the West Indies’ 15-member squad for a two-match away series against Bangladesh, which is the last assignment of the 2025–2027 ICC World Test Championship cycle for the Caribbean side.
The Tests will start on October 28 and November 5 in Mirpur and Sylhet respectively. Shai Hope, the white-ball captain, has been rested for the series after an extended run across all three formats. He is currently leading the West Indies in a white-ball series in India.
With the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier scheduled for February next year, Cricket West Indies is managing Hope’s workload through the period in the lead up to the tournament.
The 23-year-old Wickham gets his first opportunity at the senior level following an impressive showing in the West Indies Championship where he scored three consecutive centuries with a best of 153, taking his first-class tally to six centuries from 25 matches at an average of over 40.
Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph has been withdrawn from the Roston Chase-led squad following a routine medical assessment and specialist consultation.
CWI has taken the decision to manage his workload to avert the risk of injury associated with the increased physical demands of red-ball cricket.
Joseph will continue working with the CWI medical team and specialists in preparation for a full return to the longer format.
All-rounder Keemo Paul has been called up as Joseph’s replacement for the series.
Opener John Campbell has returned to the squad after recovering from a hamstring injury that kept him out of the Pakistan series at home.
The rest of the squad remains unchanged from the group that beat Sri Lanka and drew with Pakistan during the summer.
“At the start of this World Test Championship cycle we set ourselves goals, and one of them was to finish in the top half of the rankings.
“Winning this series would move us closer to it. Playing Bangladesh in their own conditions will be challenging, and we’re ready for that,” head coach Daren Sammy said in a CWI statement.
With a series win over Bangladesh, West Indies could climb to sixth in the ICC Test rankings at the conclusion of the current cycle, after finishing the 2023-2025 cycle ranked eighth.
The full squad will arrive in Bangladesh on October 18 for a three-day warm-up match in Dhaka from October 22 to 24.
West Indies Test Squad for Bangladesh Test tour:
Roston Chase (C), Jomel Warrican (VC), Joshua Bishop, John Campbell, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Joshua Da Silva, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Amir Jangoo, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Keemo Paul, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Kevin Wickham.
(PTI News)
