Alick Athanaze and Keacy Carty to lead West Indies A in white-ball games against England Lions

Alick Athanaze and Keacy Carty will lead West Indies A in the T20s and one-dayers, respectively, when England Lions travel to St Kitts and Nevis. The three T20s come first and then the five one-dayers. The one-day squad has 15 members, while the T20 squad has 13.

“The one-day squad has been picked with the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier, which begins in February, as the immediate priority, and the World Cup in October 2027 beyond it,” CWI said in a statement. “For players outside the senior side, these five matches against England A [Lions] are the main opportunity to press their case before the qualifier squad is named.

“The West Indies have already qualified for the 2028 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup through their Super 8 finish at the 2026 tournament, and these matches begin identifying the players and roles for it.”

Apart from Athanaze, the T20 squad has Vitel Lawes, Jewel Andrew, Quentin Sampson and Kamil Pooran, who have all made their international debuts. The capped players in the one-day side, apart from Carty, as well as Athanaze, Lawes and Andrew, are Kevlon Anderson, Jediah Blades, Kirk McKenzie, Shamar Springer and Oshane Thomas.

Kevin Wickham had been in line for a place in the one-day squad, CWI said, before his call-up for the Test series in Bangladesh, which gave a chance to West Indies Academy player Rivaldo Clarke to get into the squad.

“The qualifier in February is the most important assignment of our 50-over year, and we are treating it that way,” CWI director of cricket Miles Bascombe said. “Our aim is to win it and take that form to the World Cup in October. These one-day matches are a big part of how we choose the players to do that, and the T20 matches start the work for 2028.

“Ottis Gibson [head coach of West Indies A] knows what international cricket demands. We’ve asked him to give every player clarity about their role, to tell us who is closest to stepping up, and what each player needs to work on to give them the best chance when they do.”

Top-order batter Mikyle Louis will be with the “as a development attachment, working on his white-ball game within the high-performance environment”.

West Indies A T20 squad

Alick Athanaze (capt), Jewel Andrew, Zachary Carter, Shadrack Descarte, Keon Gaston, Karima Gore, Joshua James, Vitel Lawes, Zishan Motara, Jakeem Pollard, Kamil Pooran, Quentin Sampson, Stewart Thompson

West Indies A one-day squad

Keacy Carty (capt), Kevlon Anderson, Jewel Andrew, Alick Athanaze, Jediah Blades, Rivaldo Clarke, Shadrack Descarte, Jyd Goolie, Vitel Lawes, Kirk McKenzie, Micah McKenzie, Shaqkere Parris, Jakeem Pollard, Shamar Springer, Oshane Thomas

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