ENG vs WI | Chemar Holder included as West Indies announce 14-man squad

England are awaiting for the final government clearance to host Windies for a three-match Test series, starting July 8, in a completely bio-secure environment, behind closed doors. While it is expected that the government would allow it, Windies didn’t really wait for the clearance and announced a 14-man squad for the series, with 11 reserve players.

Among the comparatively new faces, Chemar Holder, Raymon Reifer, Nkrumah Bonner, and Jermaine Blackwood have been included in West Indies' 14-man squad while the likes of Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul declined to tour England. Cricket West Indies, however, have cleared that they "fully respect their decision to choose to do so. As previously stated, CWI will not hold this decision against these players when considering future selection".

Chemar has been a consistent performer on the domestic circuit and bagged 36 wickets at an average of just 18.91 in the 2019-20 first-class season. Among the others, domestic veteran Bonner has played in 69 first-class games, scoring 3321 runs, and has played two T20Is for the Windies side. For Reifer, this will be a comeback of sorts after making his Test debut back in 2017 New Zealand.

"Chemar Holder is an exciting young fast bowling talent who is coming off an excellent domestic First-Class season. He should enjoy bowling in English conditions. Jermaine Blackwood returns by sheer weight of performance in the domestic First-Class season. His patience and application were evident," CWI's Lead Selector, Roger Harper said.

"The new cricketing environment will take some getting used to. However, being in England and working together for four weeks before the first Test will give the squad the opportunity to get acclimatized and hopefully, mentally and technically adjusted to the demands of the new environment. Playing in July could be a blessing as the weather is likely to be warmer which will allow the squad more of an opportunity to play its best cricket," he added.

However, the likes of Shannon Gabriel, Sunil Ambris, Oshane Thomas, Jomel Warrican have failed to find a spot in the original side, rather they made it to the 11-man reserve side. 

West Indies squad: Jason Holder (c), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Rakheem Cornwall, Shane Dowrich, Chemar Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Raymon Reifer and Kemar Roach