CRICKET West Indies (CWI) announced a late change to their 15-man squad for the three-match Test series away to England on June 27, with St Kitts and Nevis' Jeremiah Louis being drafted into the squad for injured seamer Kemar Roach.
CWI confirmed the change via a press release which stated the 35-year-old Surrey bowler has been sidelined due to the "ongoing rehabilitation from a knee injury sustained during the County Championship in England."
With 81 Test matches and 270 test wickets to his name, Roach is the leader of the West Indies pace attack which includes vice-captain Alzarri Joseph, allrounder Jason Holder and the young, promising pair of Jayden Seales and Guyanese quick Shamar Joseph.
With the first Test starting at the famous Lord's Cricket Ground in London, the 28-year-old Louis now has the chance to step into the massive shoes of the veteran Roach.
Lead selector Desmond Haynes said, "Kemar’s skill and experience in English conditions will be missed."
However, he backed the uncapped Louis to produce the goods.
"This opportunity has been long in the making for Jeremiah Louis, he certainly has the skill and experience to make an impact in England."
In 57 First Class matches, Louis has taken 151 wickets – claiming two five-wicket hauls in the process. In this year's West Indies Regional Four-day Championship, Louis grabbed 30 wickets in seven matches for the Leeward Islands Hurricanes – ending the competition as the leading wicket-taker among fast bowlers and the sixth-best bowler overall.
Louis helped the Leeward Islands to a third-place finish in the four-day championship, and he will be joining his brother Mikyle Louis in the Windies squad for the series with the English. Mikyle, 23, had a fabulous debut season in the four-day championship for the Leeward Islands, ending the tournament as the leading run-scorer with 682 runs in 14 innings. Mikyle averaged 48.71 opening the batting for the Leewards – cracking three hundreds and four fifties in what was a dominant batting display from the right-hander.
The Windies squad have been in a training camp at Tonbridge School and will play a three-day warm-up match against the England Lions at Beckenham, starting on 4 July.
As the West Indies look toward the three-match Richards/Botham series, the uncapped Louis brothers will be hoping to make their mark for the men in maroon.
The CWI release also confirmed 19-year-old Guyanese pacer Isai Thorne will join the squad as a development player.
West Indies Test squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Alzarri Joseph (vice-captain), Alick Athanaze, Joshua Da Silva, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Tevin Imlach, Shamar Joseph, Jeremiah Louis, Mikyle Louis, Zachary McCaskie, Kirk McKenzie, Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales, Kevin Sinclair.
Fixtures for England series:
July 3-5, three-day warm-up match vs England Lions, Beckenham
July 10-14, 1st Test Match, Lord's
July 18-22, 2nd Test Match, Trent Bridge
July 26-30, 3rd Test Match, Edgbaston
The post Uncapped seamer Jeremiah Louis replaces Kemar Roac
