Shepherd gets nod for Netherlands, Pakistan ODIs; Hetmyer unavailable

Nicholas Pooran will be without Jason Holder, Shimron Hetmyer and Evin Lewis for West Indies’ ODI tours of the Netherlands and Pakistan starting May 31.

Instead, Jayden Seales, Shermon Lewis and specialist batter Keacy Carty are the new faces in the 15-member squad that will play the six ODIs that are part of the ODI Super League championship.

While Hetmyer has been given a break so he can be home for the birth of his first child, the statement from Cricket West Indies said that Evin Lewis was not considered since he failed CWI’s fitness criteria.

Holder has been rested, with workload management being cited as the key reason. All three have been part of the going IPL season even though Hetmyer has since left the tournament bubble to be with his family.

For fast bowlers Seales and Shermon Lewis, it is the first time they’ve been selected into the ODI squad. The other new face Carty is a 25-year-old batter who averages 25.05 in List-A cricket after 23 games.

In March, he scored 57 and 49 against the England Test squad in a warm-up game representing President’s XI. His selection also makes history as he is the first player from St. Maarten to have ever received a West Indies call-up.

“We were impressed with Carty and the way he goes about his innings, we saw several glimpses of his ability the way he played against England earlier this year for the CWI President’s XI,” Lead selector Desmond Haynes said in the release.

“We hope that by giving him this opportunity he will recognize the importance of representing West Indies. We think he is a young batsman with great promise, and this is the kind of tour he can show he fits in.”

“We also have a very good group of young fast bowlers who have demonstrated their ability and we want to use these two tours to give them opportunities in the 50-over format,” he added. “We have a week in The Netherlands and another week in Pakistan and this should provide them with quality opposition to bowl against as we build towards the Cricket World Cup in 2023. Phillip has been around for some time, and we know what he can offer, Seales has been very good in Test cricket and Lewis is making a return to the West Indies set-up following some good performances.”

West Indies are currently not among the spots for direct qualification into the ODI World Cup in India next year. They are tenth on the Super League points table and will need to get the points needed to get among the top seven available spots.

After this tour, West Indies will have only three remaining games in the Super League – a postponed home series due against New Zealand. If they fail to achieve direct qualification, they will have to enter the competition via a qualifier tournament, a route the side used to play in the 2019 World Cup in England.

Full squad: Nicholas Pooran (capt), Shai Hope (vice-capt), Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Keacy Carty, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Shermon Lewis, Kyle Mayers, Anderson Phillip, Rovman Powell, Jayden Seales, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh Jr. (ESPNcricinfo)  

West Indies tour of Netherlands

May 31: 1st ODI at VRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen

June 2: 2nd ODI at VRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen

June 4: 3rd ODI at VRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen

West Indies tour of Pakistan

June 8: 1st ODI at Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi

June 10: 2nd ODI at Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi

June 12: 3rd ODI at Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi