On Wednesday West Indies Cricket Board released a list of a 14-man squad. The selected players are scheduled to travel for a three-test series in England next month. The CWI also said that amongst the selected players, three West Indian cricketers have refused to travel to the UK. They have cited health concerns due to the outbreak of the Corona Virus pandemic across the world.
Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, and all-rounder Keemo Paul are the 3 West Indies players who have opted to sit back and decided against traveled to England. The trio has declined to travel to England for the 3 matches test series.
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Cricket West Indies has also shared a list of 11 reserve players. The reserve players will also travel to England and be quarantined with the squad. Such a step has been taken to ensures player replacements are available if any injuries occur.
CWI said in a statement saying, “The touring party, who will all be tested for COVID-19 this week, are scheduled to fly to England on private charters on June 8. Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, and Keemo Paul all declined the invitation to travel to England for the tour. CWI fully respects their decision to choose to do so. We will not hold this decision against these players when considering future selection.”
West Indies are scheduled to play a three-Test series against England. The WI players are scheduled to arrive in Manchester on June 9. All players will live and train at bio-secure venues during the tour begins for three weeks.
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The tour starts on July 8 as the first test is scheduled at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. The second and third tests are to be staged back in Manchester at Old Trafford from July 16 and July 24 respectively.
Earlier, Cricket West Indies gave the players its approval to travel to England for the Test series. The matches are scheduled to be played behind “closed-doors”. As a measure of safety, players, and staff to be kept in the “bio-secure environment.”
