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He wants to spend more time with his growing family as he and his wife expect their first child in the coming days

Firdose Moonda30-Dec-20212:26

de Kock: ‘I’ve done exactly what my heart is telling me to do’

Quinton de Kock has announced a sudden retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect “to spend more time with his growing family”. de Kock was due to miss the second and third Tests against India on paternity leave but has decided to step away from the longest format entirely. He remains available to play white-ball cricket for South Africa.”This is not a decision that I have come to very easily,” de Kock said in a statement issued by CSA. “I have taken a lot of time to think about what my future looks like and what needs to take priority in my life now that Sasha and I are about to welcome our first child into this world and look to grow our family beyond that. My family is everything to me and I want to have the time and space to be able to be with them during this new and exciting chapter of our lives.”I love Test cricket and I love representing my country and all that it comes with. I’ve enjoyed the ups and the downs, the celebrations and even the disappointments, but now I’ve found something that I love even more.Related

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• de Kock set to miss part of India Test series on paternity leave

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• Why did Quinton de Kock refuse to take a knee?

• de Kock to take mental-health break during domestic T20s

“In life, you can buy almost everything except for time, and right now, it’s time to do right by the people that mean the most to me.”I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been a part of my Test cricket journey from the very beginning. To my coaches, teammates, the various management teams and my family and friends – I couldn’t have shown up as I did without your support.”This is not the end of my career as a Protea, I’m fully committed to white-ball cricket and representing my country to the best of my ability for the foreseeable future.”All the best to my teammates for the remainder of this Test series against India.”See you in the ODIs and T20s.”de Kock, 29, began 2021 as South Africa’s temporary Test captain and ended it by retiring from the format. He led South Africa in four Tests, against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, with a 50% win record. South Africa beat Sri Lanka 2-0 at home but lost in Pakistan by the same margin.”In life, you can buy almost everything except for time, and right now, it’s time to do right by the people that mean the most to me”•RANDY BROOKS/AFP/Getty Images

de Kock had expressed concerns with the restrictions of bubble life in the Covid-19 pandemic and was rested from South Africa’s ODIs in Sri Lanka and against Netherlands.”It’s sad to lose a player of Quinton’s calibre at what we still see as the prime of his career and relatively young life, but family, as we all say here at CSA, is everything,” CSA acting CEO Pholetsi Moseki said in the statement. “He has been a loyal and proud servant of the Proteas team for the last seven years and we are glad that we have not lost him from the game entirely.”de Kock was also one of several players – all white – who opted not to take a knee when South Africa decided to give their players the option of taking a knee, raising a fist or standing to attention. He chose none of those on the first outing where they made gestures for anti-racism, in the West Indies, but raised a three-finger salute in tribute to a friend who had been wounded in Afghanistan and showed his support for rhino conservation.At the T20 World Cup, when CSA mandated players to take the knee, de Kock initially refused and missed the game against West Indies as a result. He subsequently apologised and has taken the knee since.de Kock made his Test debut against Australia in 2014 and played 54 Tests, scoring 3300 runs at an average of 38.82 with six centuries.His first century came at the same ground he played his last Test – SuperSport Park – when he scored 129* at No. 7 as South Africa beat England by 280 runs in 2016. He went on to score a match-winning hundred in Hobart later that year, which helped South Africa to a third successive series win in Australia. He averaged 63.18 in 2016, his best in a calendar year.

Australia’s bowling depth has captain believing they have “options for anywhere in the world”

Andrew McGlashan28-Dec-2021Pat Cummins’ immediate priority is to continue the domination of England for two more Tests as Australia target another Ashes whitewash, but after securing the series in less than 12 days he believed they were building a squad that sets them up for more success in the years to come.The standout feature for Australia across their three crushing victories has been the depth of their fast bowling. Scott Boland spectacularly added his name to the list with an astonishing haul of 6 for 7 at the MCG to follow Jhye Richardson’s five-wicket return in Adelaide and a solid debut for Michael Neser and the development of Cameron Green.Cummins’ own absence for Adelaide due to being a Covid close contact was barely noticed, as has been the case with Josh Hazlewood missing the last two games through injury and Richardson not being risked in Melbourne.Related

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“Our bowlers have been fantastic. Haven’t even felt like there’s been one session where it’s got away from us,” he said. “It’s what dreams are made of, the way we’ve played. And outside of the results there’s so many other positives; we’ve been able to have a couple of debutants, really build a squad of 15-odd players. It doesn’t just feel like a 3-0 victory, feels like we are setting ourselves up for the next few years as well.”Australia will face much sterner batting line-ups than this historically poor England side, but after last season’s loss against India a return to home dominance has left Cummins confident ahead of the challenges to come which involve three subcontinent tours to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India in the current World Test Championship cycle.It has been more than two years since the side has played Test cricket overseas – they are due to tour Pakistan in March – and there will be different questions posed to them, notably the playing of spin and whether they rebalance the attack with a second frontline spinner or stick with the pace bowlers. Legspinner Mitchell Swepson continues to wait for his Test debut which would appear unlikely to come during the Ashes.Cameron Green claimed the Ashes-clinching wicket•Getty Images

“The World Test Championship is a big thing,” Cummins said. “Absolutely want to be in that final. Winning away from home, we’ve got a great opportunity to go over on a couple of subcontinental tours. Think that’s a really big challenge for any team, you can see England coming here it’s foreign conditions for them. I feel like it’s building. Think we have options for anywhere in the world.”Having missed the Adelaide Test, Cummins is only seven playing days into his captaincy having been thrust into the job when Tim Paine resigned a couple of weeks before the series. It could have destabilised the team, but Cummins and Steven Smith have formed an excellent leadership pair and Alex Carey has eased in behind the stumps. Alongside the return of Travis Head No. 5 and Marcus Harris’ gusty innings in Melbourne there are few areas that have not come together.On a personal level, a whirlwind few weeks was still sinking in for Cummins – he was a key part in retaining the Ashes in England in 2019 and in a couple of weeks, so long as the series can navigate Covid, will be holding the urn up in Hobart.”I don’t think it’s fully hit me yet,” he said. “Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, those were the captains I grew up watching and idolising so to be in a similar position is just awesome. When I think about what it means, I think more about for our group of players.”We’ve got seven players in the top 10 of the world at the moment and we probably haven’t strung the performances over the last couple of years that we expect of ourselves. This really consolidates that we are a really good, strong Test side and a good sign for the next few years.”

Leigh Kasperek grabbed three wickets, as only three of Otago’s top seven entered double figures in the chase

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2022Wellington Women 175 for 4 (Devine 92, Green 55, Black 2-36) beat Otago Women 100 (Black 16, Kasperek 3-23, Devine 2-14) by 75 runsWellington Blaze went through the T20 summer undefeated en route to their fourth crown in five years while Northern Brave’s men outclassed the Canterbury Kings in two dominant displays at Seddon Park on Dream11 Super Smash Grand Finals day.Sophie Devine made a splash with both bat and ball to help Wellington Firebirds went through the T20 summer undefeated en route their fourth Super Smash crown in five years.Opening the batting, she smashed a 62-ball 92 to help Firebirds set a target of 176. Then with the ball, she prised out the big wickets of Katey Martin and Kate Ebrahim with her seam-ups to help skittle Otago Women for 100.Devine’s century stand with Maddy Green, the captain, was instrumental in setting a launch pad for Firebirds. Green’s contribution of 55 came at a strike rate of 157.14, with their 110-run stand coming off just 72 balls.Both Devine and Green fell in the final over of the innings, as Amelia Kerr, the star allrounder, missed out with the bat, making just 20.Otago were pegged right at the start, as openers Polly Inglis and Suzie Bates fell off consecutive deliveries. Just three batters in their top seven got into double digits, and none managed more than the 16 by Martin and Emma Black. Leigh Kasperek ran through the middle and lower middle orders to finish with three wickets.

BCCI secretary says a final decision will be taken later based on both the men’s and women’s teams existing commitments

Reuters19-Feb-2022Cricket will make a comeback at the Asian Games in Hangzhou later this year but India, the game’s financial engine, is unlikely to field teams owing to existing commitments.Few expected India’s men’s team to compete in the September Games risking injury to the players ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia from October 16.Participation of the women’s team, who will compete in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July-August, now also looks unlikely.”As far as the Asian Games in Hangzhou is concerned, a final decision on whether to send both men’s and women’s teams will be taken later and based on our existing commitments,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah told Reuters.The Games coincides with the women team’s limited-overs tour of England where they are scheduled to play three ODIs and an equal number of T20Is. Hosting India is a lucrative proposition for any board and Shah said honouring bilateral commitments was particularly important in a post-Covid world.”The BCCI has always stood by member boards and helped them in these difficult times,” Shah said. “The board firmly believes in honouring its bilateral commitments. We are committed to our fans here in India and it is absolutely important that we safeguard our home season. The FTP [Future Tours Programme] that has been created it needs to be adhered to.”The reluctance of the BCCI, the world’s richest cricket board, was seen as a major impediment to the game’s Olympic inclusion. But a change in BCCI’s stance has emboldened the ICC’s push for cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.”The BCCI and ICC are on the same page on this and agree that the inclusion of cricket in the Olympics is good for the growth of the game,” added Shah.

Home side take handy first-innings lead despite being reduced to 129 for 7

ECB Reporters Network08-Apr-2022Rob Keogh and Gareth Berg rescued Northamptonshire with a century stand for the eighth wicket to give their side the edge against Gloucestershire at Wantage Road. The pair came together with Northants stumbling towards a sizeable first-innings deficit after James Bracey’s hundred had engineered the visitors’ recovery to 223 all out.Wicketkeeper Bracey showcased his all-round skills with five dismissals as Gloucestershire reduced their fellow LV= Insurance County Championship Division One newcomers to 129 for 7 in reply. But Keogh, who compiled his 12th first-class ton before falling for 113, shared a partnership of 137 with Berg, who made 66, to guide Northamptonshire to 288 – and there was still time to make inroads second time around, with the West Country side closing on 5 for 1, a deficit of 60.Resuming on 77 not out overnight, Bracey found a capable ally in Naseem Shah – the Pakistan international frustrating Northamptonshire’s bowlers while his partner steered the total towards 200. Successive cover boundaries off Ben Sanderson brought Bracey his century and he followed that up with a savage six over long-off, prompting Naseem to start cutting loose at the other end.A series of productive blows against Keogh extended the ninth-wicket partnership to 80 before the spinner finally got his man, Emilio Gay judging a skier perfectly to take the diving catch at mid-off.James Bracey played pretty much a lone hand for Gloucestershire•Getty Images

Bracey holed out to Nathan Buck in the next over – but he was soon back in the thick of the action, donning the gloves to take a thin edge from Ricardo Vasconcelos in the third over of Northamptonshire’s reply. That was the first of a trio of early wickets for Ryan Higgins, who then collected two in three balls as Ben Curran and Saif Zaib fell to slip catches to leave the home side wobbling at 24 for 3.Gay appeared to have weathered the storm, only to depart on the stroke of lunch and, despite losing a further three wickets in the afternoon, Northamptonshire rattled along at a lively four an over. Bracey accounted for all three, two of them sharp low catches to dismiss Lewis McManus and Tom Taylor, but Berg was reprieved when Higgins’ no-ball nullified his mistimed pull into midwicket’s hands.The veteran allrounder took full advantage with some bold strokeplay, turning the tide as he and Keogh got on top of the bowling and shepherded their side beyond Gloucestershire’s total. Keogh went to three figures with an all-run four off Higgins and, although a misjudged sweep off Zafar Gohar eventually accounted for Berg, he advanced to 113 before Ben Charlesworth had him caught in the slips.

Openers add 313 for first wicket to put contest out of Sussex’s reach

ECB Reporters Network01-May-2022Openers Sean Dickson and Alex Lees compiled the fourth highest partnership in Durham’s history as their LV= County Championship match against Sussex at Hove predictably petered out to a draw.They put on 313 for the first wicket with Dickson making 186 – his highest score for Durham – and Lees 105 before both fell in the same over from leg-spinner Mason Crane.By then they had knocked off all but two runs of their first-innings deficit of 315 and when the players shook hands at 4.50pm Durham were 364 for 3 and leading by 49. Sussex take 15 points, Durham 10.It was an outstanding effort by the Durham pair whose partnership was also the county’s highest for any wicket against Sussex.Lees’ highest score in three Tests when he made his England debut against West Indies in March was a modest 31, but the left-hander faced 450 balls in that series and once again showed his powers of concentration here.The pair did a lot of the hard work needed to secure the draw by getting through 51 overs on the third day unscathed and the only chance either offered before they were parted came midway through the morning session when Lees was on 67 and mis-timed a pull off Henry Crocombe only for Crane to spill a regulation catch on the fine leg boundary.Ali Orr got his hand to the ball but couldn’t cling on to a very difficult chance at short leg when Lees was on 97, but shortly afterwards he reached his 19th first-class century, made in three minutes shy of five hours, to add to the unbeaten 182 he scored against Glamorgan earlier in the season.Sussex employed five bowlers in the pre-lunch session, but a slow pitch offering minimal lateral movement and only slow turn gave them little encouragement even when the new ball was taken immediately it became available.Lees hit a six and ten fours and faced 262 balls and it was a surprise when he smashed a full toss from Crane straight to deep mid-wicket. If that wicket owed a bit to good fortune Crane was delighted when wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan held a catch at the second attempt after Dickson got a thin under-edge cutting later in the same over. Dickson’s 186 included a six and 20 fours and was his second hundred of the season.Keegan Petersen and Scott Borthwick took their side past the first target to make Sussex bat again before persistent drizzle forced the teams off shortly before 3pm. They returned an hour later and Durham lost a third wicket when Borthwick pushed forward to Delray Rawlins’ left-arm spin and was athletically caught at slip by Rizwan, who had handed over wicket-keeping duties to Ali Orr by then and bowled a couple of overs of medium pace before the game ended.

Third defeat in a row for Sunrisers, who fall 21 short of target of 208

Alan Gardner05-May-20223:05

What has gone wrong for Sunrisers Hyderabad?

David Warner took centre stage in the clash between his current franchise and the one that unceremoniously dumped him last season, an unbeaten 92 from 58 setting up Delhi Capitals for a comfortable victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad, and a much-needed two points in their quest to force a way into contention for the knockout stages.Warner batted through the innings to help guide Capitals to a score above 200, after Kane Williamson had won his ninth toss from ten and chosen to insert. The Australian opener, now fourth on this season’s run-scoring charts, found a vital ally in Rovman Powell as the fourth-wicket pair combined for an unbroken 122-run stand. Powell finished with three fours and six sixes in 67 from 35, with 70 runs cascading from the last five overs of the innings to put the chase beyond Sunrisers.Needing to score at more than ten an over, Sunrisers barely managed to go at a run a ball for the first half of their innings. A requirement of 145 from ten overs, with just seven wickets standing, was an equation beyond all but the most outrageous of hitting, and although Nicholas Pooran kept them clinging to the coattails of the asking rate with a crisp 62 off 34 – his first fifty of the season – Khaleel Ahmed picked up 3 for 30 as Capitals attack closed out a win that moved them above their opponents and into fifth on the table.Warner walks the talk
Before this game, Warner emphasised the importance of one of himself, fellow opener Prithvi Shaw, or No. 3 Mitchell Marsh “scoring an 80 or 90 or even a hundred if we can”. With Shaw absent through illness and Marsh falling cheaply – following Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s wicket maiden to start the Capitals innings – Warner took it upon himself to deliver the goods.His first ball was slapped through the covers, not all that far from going to hand, but thereafter this was a supremely judged innings. He jump-started the scoreboard during a rare outing for Umran Malik in the powerplay, helping himself to three boundaries during an over that cost 23.There were a number of crunching straight drives, leg-side swats for six off Malik and Kartik Tyagi, and a clean mow over long-on against Aiden Markram’s offbreaks. Most impressive of all was his split-second readjustment against Bhuvneshwar, having changed his stance in preparation to switch hit; the ball was full outside leg (to a left-hander) but Warner played it adeptly as a right-hander to glide four to third.That came off the first ball of the 19th over, and by the end of it he had moved to 92 from 58 – and in sight of a century against his former franchise. But there was no one in Delhi blue more pumped than Warner, standing at the non-striker’s end as Powell took over against Malik, who finished with 0 for 52. Powell explained Warner’s advice at the innings break: “At the start of the over, I asked him if he wanted a single, to try and get the hundred and he said: ‘Listen, that is not how the cricket play.’ I should try to smack it as hard as I can and as far as I can, and I did that.”Powell powers Capitals
A first IPL half-century from Powell set the seal on Capitals’ innings. There was no doubting his ability to “smack it” as hard and as far as he could, as he cleared the ropes six times on the way past 50 from 30 balls. The Jamaican has fulfilled a number of briefs in this Capitals side, appearing as high as No. 3 in the order, and as low as No. 8. But here he said he had asked Rishabh Pant for time to show what he could do at No. 5, and duly repaid the management with his highest score in nine innings.David Warner and Rovman Powell stitched an important partnership for the fourth wicket•BCCI

Powell took a little time to get settled, reaching 19 from 18 balls in the 16th over. He might have been out twice by that point, however: a top-edged swipe at Sean Abbott evaded the backtracking Tyagi at short fine leg, and Williamson then shelled a simple chance at mid-off, Malik the unlucky bowler.Making the most of his reprieves, Powell slaughtered the previously unhittable Bhuvneshwar – who had 1 for 4 from 15 balls to that point – over deep square leg, then launched back-to-back sixes off Abbott, one of them sailing 104 metres over cover. On 41, he probably should have been taken on the rope, when a smash down the ground seemed set to pick out Markram at long-on, only for the fielder to misjudge the catch and palm it over the rope. Two more blows for six brought him fifty and he finished the innings with 4-4-4 off Malik, including creaming a 157kph ball – the fastest of this year’s IPL – through the covers.Sunrisers stumble out the blocks
Williamson went into this match to the backdrop of murmurs about his strike rate – and they will only increase after another scratchy outing, which yielded 4 off 11 and a fiddled catch behind against Anrich Nortje in the fifth over. That left him with 199 runs from 10 innings this IPL, and a strike rate of 96.13: the lowest by any opener to have faced 200 balls in a season.Powell had described the pitch as “very good” at halfway, and the Brabourne had seen a higher score hunted down this season – Lucknow Super Giants reaching 211 with three balls to spare against Chennai Super Kings in game seven. But the early loss of Abhishek Sharma hurt Sunrisers’ chances of a fast start, and with Williamson taking seven balls to get off the mark, his team limped to 35 for 2 at the end of the powerplay (a total boosted by Rahul Tripathi slashing the fourth and fifth balls of the sixth over for four).After nine overs, Sunrisers were 48 for 3, needing to score at more than 14 runs an over; and the rate barely came down from that point, despite the best efforts of Pooran and, to a lesser extent, Markram, who showed what might have been possible with a better platform on which to build.

New England coach backs Eoin Morgan ahead of first ODI against Netherlands

Matt Roller15-Jun-2022Matthew Mott has revealed that he was interviewed as a candidate to become Australia’s men’s head coach but was beaten to the job by Andrew McDonald before taking on the men’s white-ball role as part of England’s new coaching set-up.Mott, 48, coached Australia’s record-breaking women’s side from 2015 until their victory in this year’s World Cup final but decided to apply for the vacancy with the men’s team after Justin Langer’s departure. Speaking in Amstelveen ahead of England’s three-match ODI series against the Netherlands, Mott said that he had applied with low expectations and that his details had been kept on file by the recruitment company running both processes.”I actually applied for the Australian role when Andrew McDonald got it,” Mott told the PA news agency. “To be honest, I didn’t think I was a realistic chance of getting it: I knew he was doing a good job [as assistant coach] and there was a fair chance that it would stay like that but I thought it was an opportunity to test myself. I hadn’t interviewed for seven or eight years either, so just to try that.”But as it turned out there was some connection with the two companies that ran the process, they actually put me on a shortlist for the England job, so once that opportunity came up, I was very excited.”I’ve known Rob [Key] a long time: I haven’t spent a lot of time with him but our connection goes a long way back and I always had a lot of respect for him as a captain, so I thought he’d be pretty good to work with as well. Once I knew Brendon [McCullum] got the role as well, it seemed like all the stars aligned and it was going to be a good, new mix and people I had a rapport with and respect for. It felt like a pretty exciting challenge ahead.”England have not split their coaching roles along format lines since 2012-14, when Andy Flower (Test) and Ashley Giles (limited-overs) shared the jobs with limited success, but Mott said that along with Key and McCullum, he would find a way to make the system work by looking at “the bigger picture”.”You need a healthy respect for the other person and to understand your own bias,” he said. “We’re all going to want what’s best for our team but that’s where I suppose Rob plays a key role, managing the expectations of both coaches. At some point there’s always going to have to be greater emphasis on one of the formats and whether you’re leading into a World Cup or a big Test series, that clarity on who has priority there is really important.”It can’t be equal all the time because it won’t work. It’s really clear at the moment the Test series is taking a bit of priority – it’s a big Test series in the context of where England’s at in the red-ball [game]. As we get closer to the T20 World Cup, I’m sure the white-ball team will probably get a greater say in the picking of the players. That’s all to be managed well and you’ve just got to park your ego sometimes and look at the bigger picture and between the three of us, we can certainly work that out.”Mott has signed a four-year contract and one of his key calls will be managing the succession planning around when Eoin Morgan steps down as captain. Morgan has been short of runs over the last 18 months and has struggled with his fitness this year, but Mott suggested that he is “a long way off” the point where he is no longer worth his place in the side.”It’s something that Morgs and I have already discussed: he always says he wants to be picked as a batter in that team on form and merit all the way through and when he feels that’s not the case then he would step aside,” Mott said. “I think that’s a long way off being at that point.”Great players go through runs at different times and sometimes you flick a switch and it turns and you wonder what all the fuss has been about. Watching him bat [in the nets] today, he’s in pretty good positions, he’s going well and you can already tell what a profound influence he has on the leadership of this group.”He hasn’t spoken a lot yet but you can tell when he speaks, everybody is listening. That leadership is something that’s probably not as recognised as much from the outside as it is inside. He’s got a lot of great cricket ahead of him.”When I took over the Australia women’s team, they were used to winning and so there’s that pressure of expectation straight away which is a good thing. Expectation is a privilege which is not afforded to too many. I’d rather it that way. This team has functioned well, there’s no doubt about that, but where you want to be is competing in all the finals all the time – that’s the next frontier.”

The likely reason for him skipping the series is the fact that the matches aren’t part of the ODI Super League

Mohammad Isam29-Jun-2022Shakib Al Hasan is expected to skip the ODIs against West Indies next month, BCB president Nazmul Hassan said after a board meeting in Dhaka on Wednesday. Shakib was initially named in all three squads, but now it seems he will leave the tour after the T20Is.Shakib led the side for the first time in three years during their 2-0 Test series defeat to West Indies last week. He was made captain after Mominul Haque resigned from the position shortly before the tour.Towards the end of Bangladesh’s Test against Sri Lanka last month, Shakib made a caustic remark that he was available for all three formats in the West Indies since he was named in the squads. But Hassan said that he had asked for the leave before the West Indies tour.”I heard that he [Shakib] had earlier [before going to the West Indies] told Jalal Yunus that he might not play the ODIs,” Hasan said. “I guess if I talk to him today or tomorrow then I will get to know about it clearly. But he did not notify the board officially yet. But you can consider this as an official notice as he verbally relayed the message to Jalal .”The likely reason for Shakib skipping the ODIs is the fact that the matches aren’t part of the ODI Super League. Taijul Islam has reportedly been named his replacement in the ODI squad. Bangladesh are already without Mohammad Saifuddin, Shohidul Islam and Yasir Ali, who were all part of the white-ball squads.It is understood that Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who was in the Test and ODI squad, will also join the T20I squad. Taskin Ahmed, who was supposed to play only the ODIs, will take part in the T20Is, too.Bangladesh play three T20Is on July 2, 3 and 7, before the ODIs on July 10, 13 and 16.

Jermaine Blackwood and the uncapped Yannic Cariah have been called into the squad

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Aug-2022Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul and Gudakesh Motie have all been ruled out of the ODI series against New Zealand, which will potentially be crucial to West Indies’ hopes of direct qualification to the 2023 50-over World Cup.Hetmyer has withdrawn for personal reasons while Paul is out because of an injury, and Motie has failed to recover from the hand injury he sustained while playing against India last month.Related

• West Indies include Kevin Sinclair for New Zealand ODIs; Shimron Hetmyer returns

• Ben Sears replaces injured Matt Henry in squad for West Indies ODIs

The three games are West Indies’ last of the Super League. They are currently in sixth position with 80 points, having won eight and lost 13 of their 21 fixtures so far. Depending on how many points they take from this series there is a chance they could slip out of the top eight – direct-qualification positions – for next year’s World Cup, to be played in India.”The pressure has been on from the beginning to try and win cricket games but this team has been together for a while now,” captain Nicholas Pooran said. “We knew that this series was for points. The pressure, I don’t think we are looking at it from that perspective, in terms of we have to win and must get points. The guys know what’s at stake here and we know what we have to do to be successful.”Jermaine Blackwood, who played his only two previous ODIs back in 2015, and uncapped legspin-bowling allrounder Yannic Cariah have been called into the squad for the three games in Barbados, with Odean Smith travelling as a reserve. Cariah, 30, was recently a part of the West Indies A side that played two four-day games against Bangladesh A.”Now is the right time to integrate him into the senior team set-up,” Desmond Haynes said of Yannic Cariah•Getty Images

“Hetmyer has to attend to a family matter in Guyana. Unfortunately, Motie is not yet able to rejoin the squad and Keemo is struggling with an injury,” West Indies’ lead selector Desmond Haynes said. “However, it provides an opportunity for Yannic Cariah to get a chance. He is someone that has been performing well on the regional circuit and we feel now is the right time to integrate him into the senior team set-up.”Kevin Sinclair, the offspinner who is uncapped in ODIs, is also a new face in the squad. Roston Chase had earlier been ruled out through injury and Fabian Allen for personal reasons.”We are looking to broaden the pool of players and we have decided to give Sinclair an opportunity,” Haynes said. “He has been in the system for a while and was also in the A team to play against Bangladesh A in the upcoming series. We believe with his calm approach and skills he will do well in the matches against New Zealand.”West Indies ODI squad: Nicholas Pooran (capt), Shai Hope, Jermaine Blackwood, Shamarh Brooks, Yannic Cariah, Keacy Carty, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Jayden Seales, Kevin Sinclair.