(CMC) – Wicketkeeper/batsman Shane Dowrich has abruptly retired from international cricket just ten days after being recalled to the West Indies squad following a three-year exile.
Cricket West Indies made the shock announcement yesterday, saying the 32-year-old Barbadian’s decision was with “immediate effect” and had led to his withdrawal from the 15-man squad for the One-Day International series against England starting Sunday in Antigua.
Dowrich featured in the recently concluded Super50 Cup in Trinidad and Tobago, where he captained Combined Campuses and Colleges while scoring 234 runs at an average of 78.
“We want to thank Shane for his contribution when he played for West Indies,” said CWI’s director of cricket, Miles Bascombe.
“He is a disciplined, hard-working cricketer who always gave his utmost in front and behind the stumps.
“He had a memorable series in 2019 when he made an outstanding Test century on home soil in Barbados to help us beat England and win the Wisden Trophy.
“We respect his decision to retire and appreciate it is not an easy one to make. We wish him all the best as he steps away from the international stage.”
CWI said in its statement that no replacement would be named.
Dowrich, who played 35 Tests and a single One-Day International, saw a promising career plunged into turmoil when he also abruptly left the tour of New Zealand three years ago for “personal reasons.”
That development was followed by a protracted break from first-class cricket, with the player finally making a return last year.
His recall to international cricket this month came four-and-a-half years after he played his only ODI, but in defending the move, chief selector, the Most Honourable Desmond Haynes, said Dowrich still had much to offer West Indies cricket.
“Dowrich has proven to be [a good] player, batting in the middle, playing spin very well,” Haynes said earlier this month.
“He’s done well. Even though he hasn’t played a lot of one-day games, he’s done very well at Test level, and that’s one of the things as selectors: we always think if you can perform at Test level, it makes it a lot easier playing 50-over cricket.
“And Dowrich proved he can play at that level with a couple of Test hundreds.
“He had an illness; he came back, [and] he captained the CCC team, done very well. He got a hundred, and we were very impressed with the way how he led the side.
“We just thought in the situation of obviously we’ve only got Shai (Hope) as a ’keeper as well, we thought that Dowrich would just be the other ’keeper in the side.”
Dowrich scored 1,570 runs at an average of 29, hitting three centuries with a top score of 125 not out against Sri Lanka in Trinidad in 2018. He snared 85 catches and five stumpings.
