St Lucia names squad for Windwards series

CASTRIES, St Lucia CMC – St Lucia cricket selectors have named a squad of 15 players who will represent the island when the Windward Islands cricket series start in Grenada next week.

Darren Sammy and Johnson Charles are both unavailable, but the team will have the services of the orthodox left-arm spinner and seasoned player Garey Mathurin who will lead the team.

Also included in the squad are Sagicor High Performance representatives, Keddy Lesporis and Dalton Polius and West Indies under-19 player Taryck Gabriel.

There are three new comers in the squad, fast bowler Kevin Augustin, and wicketkeeper-batsmen Jason Simon and Vidal Crandon. A noticeable absentee is wicketkeeper-batsman Gaspard Prospere, while all-rounder Craig Emmanuel makes a return to the team.

St Lucia will first participate in the Twenty20 format of the competition and then defend their two-day title.

Thirteen players were specifically chosen for the T20 series.

They are Garey Mathurin, Keddy Lesporis, Craig Emmanuel, Dalton Polius, Mervin Wells, Taryck Gabriel, Alex Antoine, Xavier Gabriel, Audy Alexander, Sergio Fedee, Vidal Crandon, Kevin Augustin and Kurt Edward. For the two-day tournament Crandon and Edward will be replaced by Jason Simon and Dennis Louis.

Former Windwards opener Alton Crafton is the team’s coach and the manager is Bernard Gaston.