Out of favour opening batsman Tagenarine Chanderpaul and experienced fastbowler Kemar Roach have been included in a 14-man West Indies Championship XI team which will play South Africa in a warm-up match from July 31-August 3 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.
The four-day encounter will serve as preparation for the two-match Test series between the Windies and South Africa, which commences with a matchup at the Queen's Park Oval, St Clair from August 7-11. The second Test will be played at the Providence Stadium in Guyana from August 15. The West Indies are coming off a 3-0 series defeat to England, which culminated with a heavy ten-wicket loss in the third and final Test in Edgbaston on July 28.
The 28-year-old Chanderpaul was overlooked for the England tour. Meanwhile, the 36-year-old Roach was originally included in the squad for England, but was ruled out for the series before the first Test due to his rehabilitation from a knee injury sustained in the County Championship.
On July 27, a Cricket West Indies (CWI) release announced the 14-man squad for the warm-up fixture, with Barbados allrounder Justin Greaves appointed as the captain and Sint Maarten middle-order batsman Keacy Carty appointed as his deputy.
The 30-year-old Greaves has played two Test matches for the West Indies, both of which came against Australia in January. Greaves has also played five One-day Internationals (ODIs) for the West Indies, with his debut coming against Ireland in January 2022.
The 27-year-old Carty has played 22 matches for the West Indies in the ODI format, but remains uncapped at Test level. Carty has played 48 First-Class matches, averaging 28.09 in the format with three hundreds and 18 fifties. Carty finished the 2024 regional First-Class season as the fifth-leading run scorer with 496 runs, notching a career-best score of 127 in the process.
The West Indies Championship XI also includes the Trinidad and Tobago quartet of Bryan Charles, Amir Jangoo, Anderson Phillip and Jeremy Solozano, all of whom had solid seasons in the West Indies Regional Four-day Championships in 2024.
The left-handed Jangoo was a revelation for the TT Red Force in the 2024 regional season, scoring 500 runs at an average of 100 — hitting a mammoth 218 against Combined Campuses and Colleges in April.
Playing for the Windward Islands, Solozano, who has the solitary Test to his name, scored 330 runs at an average of 41.98 in the First-Class season.
Charles and Phillip grabbed 30 and 29 wickets in the First-Class season respectively, with the latter finishing as the second-best wicket-taker among fast bowlers.
The team also includes Barbados left-arm spinner Joshua Bishop, who finished the First-Class season as the leading wicket-taker with 42 scalps.
The South African team, which will be captained by Temba Bavuma, arrived in Trinidad on July 27.
Windies Championship XI: Justin Greaves (captain), Keacy Carty (vice-captain), Joshua Bishop, Jediah Blades, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Bryan Charles, Amir Jangoo, Anderson Phil
