BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Jamaican opener Xavier Marshall has gained a stunning recall to the West Indies team in a 15-man squad announced Saturday for the World Twenty20 Championships in England next month.
The 23-year old Marshall, who was dumped by selectors after just one Test against England on the recent Caribbean tour because of poor form, has gotten the nod from selectors yet again despite having also failed in domestic season for Jamaica.
He will join 21-year-old Windward Islands batsman Andre Fletcher and all-rounder David Bernard Jr as the three new players called up to the existing West Indies One-Day International squad already chosen for the three-match NatWest series against England starting later this month.
Bernard is a member of the current Test squad but was overlooked for the ODIs.
Fast bowler Ravi Rampaul and opening batsman Dale Richards, both included in the ODI squad, have been axed for the game’s shortest form.
Marshall, touted for some time as a batsman with great promise, has delivered precious little in recent outings.
He managed 44 runs in three Tests innings on the tour of New Zealand earlier this year and was dismissed without scoring in his only innings in the Sabina Test when West Indies won by an innings and 23 runs in February.
Marshall has fared no better in ODIs either, scraping 58 runs from his last six innings, the last of which was the third match of the series against New Zealand in January.
Axed from the Test team following the Sabina Test, his poor form followed him in his return to the Jamaica team. He managed just 215 runs from nine innings at an average of 23 and was promptly dropped by national selectors after the ninth series of matches when he managed just eight and four against Trinidad & Tobago.
The World Twenty20 Championships run from June 5-21.
SQUAD: Chris Gayle (captain), Denesh Ramdin (vice captain), Lionel Baker, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard Jr., Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Xavier Marshall, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Jerome Taylor.
