Dominican cricketer, Alick Athanaze, has been named to the West Indies cricket team as they take on India here in Dominica from July 12 to 16.
The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Senior Men’s Selection Panel announced the players early Friday afternoon.
Selectors said they were impressed by Athanaze and another player, left-handed batter Kirk McKenzie, in a recent tour of Bangladesh and they deserve the opportunity to be on the team.
“We were very impressed with the approach to batsmanship of McKenzie and Athanaze on the recent ‘A’ Team tour of Bangladesh. These are two young players who got good scores and played with great maturity, and we believe they deserve an opportunity,” lead selector, Desmond Hayes, said.
Haynes stated that the series against India is going to be challenging but the Windies team wants to move up the ladder.
“Looking ahead to the series we know it will be a challenging one as we start the new cycle of the ICC Test Match Championship. We want to build and improve and strive to move up the ladder,” he said.
The naming of Athanaze on the team is a dream come true for many Dominicans. Quite a few had taken to social media to implore the selection panel to include him, and another up-and-coming player, Kaven Hodge, on the squad.
However, Hodge did not make the final cut.
According to CWI, the Windies squad will travel to Dominica on Sunday following their ongoing pre-series camp at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. They will have training sessions on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning in the build-up to the match.
The first match of the two-Test series bowls off next Wednesday at 10 am at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium in Roseau.
The series will be the first fixtures for both West Indies and India in the new 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship.
The full squad is as follows:
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
A bunch of Dominican traitors.They tried to bury the young man,the same way they buried young cricketers in Dominica,especially the two Jacka on q95.I always knew you would make it CONGRATULATION.Cannot keep a good man down.Some of them are saying congratulation with a heavy heart.
Amen. At long last for all those that thought the day would never come the long-awaited game with a Dominican player on the W.I Team playing on home soil. What more can we ask for let’s pray for the time when we will have two of them on the team. Let’s go out and give them our full support and make Dominica proud.
Congratulation to Alick Athanaze on being selected to compete against one of the strongest test teams in the word. My hope is that he does so well that he would earn a regular spot on the WI test team.
Happy for Athanaze; however, it is a weak and crappy squad overall. There are a head scratching 5 Bajans in the eligible 13.
It should be Roach or Gabriel but definitely not both of these over the hill campaigners. Recurring injuries and Father Time have conspired to render these two formerly fast bowlers almost completely impotent.
Furthermore, Once the Indians dislodge either opener, Brathwaite or Chanderpaul, it will be collapse city for the Windies anemic batting lineup.
Congratulations 👏.. good luck 👍 and make Westindies Dominica 🇩🇲 767/ yourself and your family 👪?. Proud! Remember we play to win the Game!!
Many in the region were eagerly looking forward to those TWO names…Kirk Mckenzie has great potential, he is young and extremely promising. He takes pride in batting. Athanaze is equally promising, he just needs a cool head and to utilize all the good techniques that has brought him this far. I listen to sports programmes from both Barbados and Jamaica, and i was pleasantly surprised that so many cricket enthusiasts in the region hold him, Athanaze, in such high regards!
Go for it Athanaze!
Go for it Mckenzie!
Congrats to BOTH of you!