BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Omar Phillips has replaced Floyd Reifer as captain of the Combined Campuses & Colleges for the Caribbean Twenty20 Championship, starting on July 22 here.
Phillips, a left-handed opener, is currently on tour of England with the West Indies A-Team, and will lead the composite 14-member squad into the competition.
He made his Test debut for West Indies in last year’s ill-starred home series against Bangladesh, when several players went on strike to protest terms and conditions, and distinguished himself 96 in his debut innings.
Reifer took over the leadership of the CCC last year, following that series, but the left-handed batsman has only returned recently to competitive cricket, following a brief injury lay-off. He has been listed as a player/coach in the media release to announce the squad, but the CCC have named their full complement of players, and no indication was given about if special consideration had been given to them.
Wicketkeeper/batsman Chadwick Walton, who is also in England with West Indies-A, and off-spinner Ryan Austin are two other players that made their Test debuts in that Bangladesh series also included in the squad.
Three completely newcomers have also been named in the squad. They are fast bowler Ruel Brathwaite, batting all-rounder Raymon Reifer, a cousin of Floyd, and all-rounder Marlon Richards from Trinidad & Tobago. Several players that have appeared in regional competitions previously complete the squad. They include the former Windward Islands pair of Romel Currency and Miles Bascombe.
CCC are in Zone-B of the competition, along with Barbados, Guyana, and Windwards. They open the competition against hosts Barbados in a floodlit match on July 23 at Kensington Oval.
Squad: Omar Phillips (captain), Ryan Austin, Miles Bascombe, Ruel Brathwaite, Romel Currency, Kavesh Kantasingh, Gilford Moore, Kjorn Ottley, Nekoli Parris, Raymon Reifer, Marlon Richards, Chadwick Walton, Ryan Wiggins, Barrington Yearwood.
