State of cricket in the Caribbean has not been of great help to the West Indies cricketers but their recent treble of World Cups will now see the nation get stuck to the sport once again.
After the World T20 victory in India, West Indies national team is now set to play a tri-nation series with Australia and South Africa in the Caribbean. This series has all the makings of a spectacular tournament with big names from each side expected to play a part in their team.
The tournament is scheduled to start on the 3rd of next month and the West Indies Cricket Board has already announced the squad for the first 4 matches and there are plenty of surprises in store.
Mystery spinner Sunil Narine, who has last played a competitive international game in November last year after he was reported for a suspect action and was eventually suspended for failing to meet the ICC criteria.
However, just 5 months later, the off-spinner was cleared of all charges and was allowed to bowl once again. He was also picked in the World T20 in India earlier this year but did not play a part in the campaign after deciding to train even further.
However, he is now set to be back in the national team after a decent IPL stint and will be an integral part of the plans for the hosts in the tri-nation- series.
Along with Narine, hard-hitting all-rounder, Kieron Pollard was also named in the squad after missing out in the recent games.
He was out for a while due to a knee injury he picked up in South Africa last November but is now back in action and has been playing a huge role for the Mumbai outfit in the IPL this season.
Having scored 198 runs in 12 innings, Pollard will be itching to play for his national side once again and he will get the chance in this series.
However, a number of other star players are yet again missing from the squad.
The likes of Andre Russel and Chris Gayle who are in tremendous form in the IPL were not named in the squad for the first four games while all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and T20 skipper Darren Sammy were also shockingly not a part of the squad.
Since the tour of Sri Lanka last year, the West Indies have not played any form of ODI cricket and will surely be tested by two of the best teams in the world.
West Indies will play their first match against South Africa on June 3, followed by a game against Australia on June 5 both in Guyana.
Their second round of matches is scheduled for June 13 and 15 in Basseterre, St Kitts.
Here is the squad in full:
Jason Holder (capt), Sulieman Benn, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Shannon Gabriel, Sunil Narine, Ashley Nurse, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor