BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – West Indies head coach, Phil Simmons has assembled a group of 14 player
Vishaul Singh
s in a one-week high performance camp focusing on batting and spin bowling. The players, some of whom have played at the international level, have been invited to attend as West Indies look ahead to the upcoming Test match schedule.
The training sessions, which started last weekend, are being conducted under the guidance of the Head Coach, at the West Indies High Performance Centre at the 3Ws Oval.
Simmons said: “The camp is specifically for batsmen and spin bowlers. At this stage, we want the batsmen to focus on getting better against the slow bowlers. We want bowlers to look at ways to improve their art of spin bowling. In the coming months we will have Test matches against India and Pakistan – two higher ranked teams – so we know we will face a lot of spin and we will play against players who are good players of spin. So this camp is planned with those factors in mind.”
Simmons added: “The list of players for this camp does not mean that they have already been selected to play the Test matches. The squads for the India and Pakistan matches will be named at a later date. We have chosen players to work on certain specific areas and to have a closer look at their techniques and skill sets, as we look to prepare for what is ahead of us.”
West Indies are due to play four Tests against India in July and August in the Caribbean and three Tests away to Pakistan in September and October. Another camp, for the West Indies squad for the Tri Nation 50-over series will be held later this month. The players for that camp will be named in the coming days.
The Guyana Jaguars players in the training squad are opener Rajendra Chandrika who played three test matches, Leon Johnson who played four test matches as well as middle order batsman Vishaul Singh and Gudakesh Motie.
Guyana Jaguars captain, Johnson scored the most runs in the recently concluded WICB Professional Cricket League (PCL) Regional Four Day (R4D) Tournament 2015/16 amassing 807 runs at an average of 57.64 with two centuries while Jaguars vice-captain Vishaul Singh scored three centuries in totalling 712 runs at an average of 50.85 was the third highest runs getter behind Johnson and Devon Smith (719).
In his maiden first-class season, Jaguars left-arm spinner, Gudakesh Motie was the most successful bowler with 40 wickets same amount as Veerasammy Permaul who played eight matches, one more than Motie. The top five bowlers in the PCL R4D are Nikita Miller with 65 wickets, Rakheem Cornwall with 48 wickets, Imran Khan 44 and Motie and Permaul with 40 wickets each.
LIST OF PLAYERS:
Kraigg Brathwaite
Rajendra Chandrika
Shai Hope
Jermaine Blackwood
Shane Dowrich
Leon Johnson
Vishal Singh
Roston Chase
Shamarh Brooks
John Campbell
Imran Khan
Gudekesh Moti-Kanhai
Damion Jacobs
Jomel Warrican
