Roach and Hodge get Test recalls for New Zealand series as Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph miss out due to injuries.
Roach and Hodge find their way back in the West Indies Test side.
The West Indies Test team has called up Kemar Roach for their December trip of New Zealand. For the three games, Roach was a member of a 15-person team; however, Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph remain out due to injuries.
Roach’s 85-Test record will counterbalance a rather inexperienced pace attack, which also features 29-year-old Ojay Shields, who has been called up for the first time. Roach last played a Test in January, in Multan during their tour of Pakistan.
Kavem Hodge, an all-rounder who also played in his final Test match against Multan, has been invited back into the team. But Khary Pierre’s left-arm orthodox spin bowling is becoming less popular.
Cricket West Indies’ Director of Cricket, Miles Bascombe, said, “New Zealand has traditionally been one of the toughest places for any touring side… 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.”
Among the players listed in the squad are Shields and Roach, who recently finished a two-week high-performance camp in the area. Additionally, on November 20, they will travel to Christchurch with the rest of the team, who are already in New Zealand for the current ODI series, to participate in a two-day warm-up match against a New Zealand XI.
The World Test Championship cycle will include the series. Among the teams who have participated in at least one Test during the cycle, the West Indies are at the bottom of the table because they have lost all five of their previous appearances. Conversely, New Zealand has not yet participated in a cycle match.