West Indies v England 2022: Hosts name squad for first Test
- Published
John Campbell averages 23.70 in his 15 Tests
West Indies have dropped batter Shai Hope and all-rounder Roston Chase but recalled opener John Campbell for the first Test against England next month.
Uncapped fast bowler Anderson Phillip, 25, has been named in the 13-man squad, with Shannon Gabriel, 33, ruled out because of a hamstring injury.
The opening Test of the three-match series starts in Antigua on 8 March.
Batter Jeremy Solozano, all-rounder Rahkeem Cornwall and spinner Jomel Warrican have also missed out.
All three were part of the squad that lost 2-0 in Sri Lanka in December.
"I expect us to be very competitive against England," said lead selector and former opener Desmond Haynes.
"This should be a very exciting series, with a lot of players who are out to make their mark.
"We have a squad that has some experienced players as well as some exciting young players and we expect them to equip themselves well and do the job."
West Indies, captained by Kraigg Brathwaite, face England in three matches throughout March for the inaugural Richards-Botham Trophy.
Joe Root's side won 2-1 in England in 2020 to regain the Wisden Trophy, which was retired after the tour and replaced by a trophy named in honour of West Indies legend Sir Vivian Richards and England great Ian Botham, now Lord Botham.
West Indies have not lost a Test series at home to England since 2004.
They beat Eoin Morgan's side 3-2 in a T20 series in January, before losing three one-day internationals and three T20s in India earlier this month.
Left-hander Campbell, 28, has not played a Test since April 2021 and is recalled after hitting 127 for Jamaica against Barbados at the Kensington Oval last week.
Hope, 28, became the first man to score a century in both innings of a first-class match at Headingley in a famous Test win for the West Indies in 2017.
However, those remain his only Test tons and he averages just 25.01 in 38 matches.
Chase, who took 8-60 as England were thrashed by 381 runs in Barbados in 2019, has struggled with the bat recently - having only passed 50 once since the 2020 tour of England.
Cricket West Indies has announced a board President's XI captained by wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich will be England's opponents in their warm-up tour match on 1-4 March at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.
West Indies first Test squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Jermaine Blackwood (vc), Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Joshua da Silva (wkt), Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Veerasammy Permaul, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales.
Fixtures
1-4 March: CWI President's XI v England, Antigua
8-12 March: 1st Test, Antigua (14:00 GMT)
16-20 March: 2nd Test, Barbados (14:00 GMT)
24-28 March: 3rd Test, Grenada (14:00 GMT/15:00 BST)
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