ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Opener Sunil Ambris and all-rounder Raymon Reifer have been rewarded for their performances in the just concluded Tri-Nations Series, as they have been named as backups for the upcoming training camp in Southampton, England from May 19 to 23.
Ambris, who scored his maiden ODI century against Ireland in the Tri-Nations Series has been called up as cover for Evin Lewis, who has recently recovered from a viral illness, while Reifer will cover for the bowling group as part of workload management.
The two are also among ten players who have been named as substitutes for the ICC World Cup.
The other reserves are Kieron Pollard, Roston Chase, Keemo Paul, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Dowrich, Jonathan Carter, John Campbell and Khary Pierre.
The West Indies will continue their preparations for the upcoming World Cup at the four-day camp, which will include an additional warm-up fixture against Australia, which will be played on May 22 at the Ageas Bowl, the home of Hampshire County Cricket Club.
The original West Indies schedule was based in Bristol from May 23, with two official ICC Cricket World Cup warm-up matches on May 26 against South Africa and on May 28 versus New Zealand. The West Indies opening ICC Cricket World Cup match is against Pakistan May 31 at Trent Bridge.
Chief executive officer of CWI Johnny Grave, said the idea behind the training camp and playing an extra warm-up game was to give the World Cup squad more preparation time in English conditions and game time together, especially as seven members of the squad missed the Tri-Series in Ireland due to the IPL.
“We are very grateful to Hampshire CCC for agreeing to host us at the Ageas Bowl and to Cricket Australia for the additional warm-up game. Due to the commitments and promises made, to both our players and the BCCI, this is the first time that our entire World Cup squad can get together since the IPL finished,” Grave said.
“We are confident that these additional five days of training and the extra warm-up game will mean that our players will be ready to perform at their best in our opening match against Pakistan on the 31st of May.”
ICC Cricket World Cup Squad:
Jason Holder (Captain), Chris Gayle (Captain), Kemar Roach, Darren Bravo, Andre Russell, Shai Hope, Sheldon Cottrell, Evin Lewis, Shannon Gabriel, Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Shimron Hetmyer, Fabian Allen, Oshane Thomas, Nicholas Pooran.
Reserves for ICC Cricket World Cup:
Sunil Ambris, Dwayne Bravo, John Campbell, Jonathan Carter, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Raymon Reifer, Kieron Pollard.