KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Injury-prone West Indies pacer Jerome Taylor has been omitted from a Jamaican 25-man squad to prepare for the upcoming Caribbean Twenty20 Championship.
Taylor, who has played 29 Tests and 66 One-Day Internationals, has struggled with fitness problems in recent years and has been in and out both the Jamaica and West Indies side.
He was a member of the 14-man squad to last month’s Super50 Series in Guyana but did not play because of fitness issues.
Taylor, 27, emerged as a genuine fast bowling talent for the Windies after making his debut a few days before his 19th birthday back in 2003.
However, his career since has been riddled by injury and he has not played a Test since limping out of the first one of the three-match series against Australia in Brisbane two years ago.
He made a comeback against South Africa in the Caribbean last year but played only four ODIs before being sidelined again.
Taylor has proven more than handy with the bat, and was good enough to get a superb maiden century against New Zealand in Dunedin three years ago.
Meanwhile, star batsman Chris Gayle has also been left out of the squad because of his commitments in the Australian Big Bash, which clashes with the CT20.
Wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh Jr, who played on the Test leg of the Windies tour of India, will join the squad on return while Andre Russell, Danza Hyatt and Marlon Samuels will do similarly after completing the ongoing ODI series.
The CT20 will be played from January 9-22 next year in Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.
SQUAD – Tamar Lambert, John Campbell, Kenar Lewis, Simon Jackson, Jermaine Blackwood, Brenton Parchment, Xavier Marshall, Andre McCarthy, Horace Miller, David Bernard Jnr, Shawn Findlay, Nkrumah Bonner, Chadwick Walton, Jamie Merchant, Sheldon Cotterell, Krishmar Santokie, Andrew Richardson, Nikita Miller, Odean Brown, Yanick Elliott, Damion Jacobs, Howard Powell, Oshane Walters, Fabian Forbes, Garth Garvey.
