Possible Test debuts loom for Athanaze, McKenzie

ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC):

Emerging left-handed batsmen Alick Athanaze and Kirk McKenzie could be in line to make their debut in Tests after they were named in a 13-member West Indies squad for the first Test against India, starting on July 12 at Windsor Park in Dominica.

The spin-bowling pair of Rahkeem Cornwall and Jomel Warrican have also been named in the squad, which will travel to the Dominica capital of Roseau on Sunday following their ongoing pre-series training camp at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.

The selection panel also named the uncapped pair of pacer Akeem Jordan and wicketkeeper-batsman Tevin Imlach as travelling reserves for the match, which is also part of new ICC World Test Championship cycle.

Athanaze and McKenzie have grown their reputations in recent months with performances stretching from West Indies Championship to Headley-Weeekes Tri-Series to the West Indies A Tour of Bangladesh, and lead selector Desmond Haynes felt the time was right to give them an opportunity.

IMPRESSIVE

“We were very impressed with the approach to batsmanship of McKenzie and Athanaze on the recent ‘A’ Team tour of Bangladesh,” Haynes said. “These are two young players who got good scores and played with great maturity, and we believe they deserve an opportunity.”

If he plays, it will be a grand homecoming for Athanaze, a Dominican, who was the leading batsman in the West Indies Championship with 647 runs, which included two hundreds.

The 23-year-old Dominican created quite a stir when he made his One-Day International debut against the United Arab Emirates last month in Sharjah and scored the joint fastest half-century on debut, a pulsating 65 off 45 balls, including 51 which came in the Power Play alone, and he will be looking to transfer that confidence into the longer format, if selected.

McKenzie, 22, an opener from Jamaica, made a huge statement when he gathered a double hundred for West Indies Emerging Players in the Headley-Weekes Tri-Series, and he has hardly placed a foot wrong since, being one of the leading scorers for West Indies A in Bangladesh.

Unlike Athanaze, he has not had the chance to get his feet wet on the international stage, and he has only played nine first-class matches after making his debut last year for Jamaica Scorpions, so playing a Test will be a big step up for him, plus Tagenarine Chanderpaul is the incumbent opening partner for Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite and has proven himself so far in that spot.

With left-hander all-rounder Kyle Mayers dealing with a few niggling injuries from his practically non-stop spell of matches that included the Indian Premier League and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier, a space will open up in the batting for either Athanaze or McKenzie to fill the breach.

Squad:

Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Jermaine Blackwood (vice-captain), Alick Athanaze, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kirk McKenzie, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Roach, Jomel Warrican.

Travelling Reserves: Tevin Imlach, Akeem Jordan.