Image Credit- CWI
Shane Dowrich, a batsman and wicketkeeper for the West
Indies, has announced his immediate retirement from international cricket. This
indicates that the 32-year-old, who was initially included in the West Indies’
team for their impending home ODI series against England, now withdrew. The
three-match series, which gets underway in Antigua on Sunday, will not have a
replacement named by the CWI selection panel for Dowrich.
After making 234 runs in five innings at an average of
78 and a strike rate of 91.76 in the Super50 Cup, Dowrich—whose only prior ODI
cap came against Bangladesh in 2019—earned a recall. Shai Hope will have to
balance keeping and captaincy in Dowrich’s absence because Nicholas Pooran is
not currently eligible to be selected for ODIs.
With 35 appearances for the West Indies in Test
cricket between June 2015 and December 2020, Dowrich was a more consistent
player. In addition to his three centuries and 1570 runs, he also claimed 90
wickets. In June 2018, in Port-of-Spain, his career-best 125 not out helped the
West Indies defeat Sri Lanka by 226 runs. Then, in January 2019, Dowrich helped
the West Indies defeat England in Bridgetown with an undefeated 116 in an
uninterrupted 295-run seventh-wicket stand with Jason Holder.
Miles Bascombe, CWI’s Director of Cricket, paid
tribute to Dowrich. “We want to thank Shane for contribution when he
played for West Indies,” he said. “He is a disciplined, hard-working
cricketer who always gave his utmost in front and behind the stumps. He had a
memorable series in 2019 when he made an outstanding Test century on home soil
in Barbados to help us beat England and win the Wisden Trophy. We respect his
decision to retire and appreciate it is not an easy one to make. We wish him
all the best as he steps away from the international stage.”