Paul, Shepherd, Hemraj picked for Windies A One-Day matches

The Selection Panel of Cricket West Indies announced on Friday a 13-member WINDIES “A” squad for three One-day matches against England Lions on March 6, 9 and 11 at the Coolidge Cricket Ground here.
The One-day series comes on the heels of the “Test” series which WINDIES “A” swept 3-0, bringing kudos from Chairman of the CWI Selection Panel, Courtney Browne.
“The ‘Test’ side had an outstanding series, and the panel would like to congratulate the team and coaching staff for a stellar performance against the English,” he said.
“The ‘Test’ squad reflected the majority of those players that have been with our WINDIES ‘A’ programme for the last 18 months or more, plus some senior Test team players that needed to make justification for further senior Test match consideration. This allowed us to put out a strong squad against the England Lions.”
On the forthcoming One-day series, Browne said: “This WINDIES ‘A’ One-day squad has a few new faces and these players have been identified based on their Super50 Cup performances. We are now looking forward to similar performances from the players in the One-day series that are worthy of challenging for senior team slots.
“Our performances in One-day Internationals at the senior level have not been consistent for a number of years now and we need to start identifying players that can help us to become a more consistent ODI team.”
On the new faces in the One-day squad, Browne said: “Hodge had a very good all-round performance for his franchise which helped them to win the Super50 Cup. His ability to bowl up front with his left-arm spin bowling is an asset and his very capable middle-order batting brings a good dimension to the squad.
“Chandrapaul Hemraj looked promising with the bat during the Digicel 4-Day Championship and Super50 Cup, so he has been given an opportunity to stake a claim for one of the opening positions, where we’ve lacked consistency in our international cricket.
“Romario Shepherd, whose ability to bowl with good pace and control in the Power Play, gave him the nod over other contenders, and Keemo Paul was an ICC Youth World Cup winner with our Under-19 squad two years ago and has progressed nicely, plus his ability to swing the new and old ball along with his athleticism in the field adds good value to the squad.”
In his debut List A season in the just concluded Regional Super50 Cup, Hemraj scored 227 runs from nine innings with a highest score of 80 against Jamaica Scorpions while Keemo Paul and Romario Shepherd played seven matches each and picked up 13 and 11 wickets each.
Another rookie pick is Dominican Kavem Hodge who scored 241 runs and picked up 15 wickets in 10 matches that took the Windward Islands Volcanoes to the title.
Squad; Kieran Powell (Captain), Jahmar Hamilton (Vice Captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Kavem Hodge, Andre McCarthy, Keemo Paul, Raymon Reifer, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Jomel Warrican
Team Management Unit; Floyd Reifer (Head Coach), Rayon Griffith (Manager/Assistant Coach), Roddy Estwick (Assistant Coach), Khevyn Williams (Physiotherapist), Gregory Seale (Strength & Conditioning Coach), Dinesh Mahabir (Analyst)

Windies A vs England Lions One Day Series
March 6 – 1st
One-day Match – Coolidge Cricket Ground
March 9 – 2nd
One-day Match – Coolidge Cricket Ground
March 11 – 3rd
One-day Match – Coolidge Cricket Ground