JOHANNESBURG, South Africa –West Indies will use all 15 members of their squad when they play the tour-opener against a South Africa Invitational XI – a three-day match at Willowmore Park in Benoni, starting Wednesday. First ball daily is 10:30 am (4:30 am Eastern Caribbean Time/3:30 am Jamaica Time).
Speaking on Tuesday, skipper Denesh Ramdin said the aim is to make sure that all members of the squad get acclimatised to the South African conditions and are fully Test Match-ready as they prepare to face the Proteas in the three-match rubber. This will be the West Indies’ only warm-up match ahead of the series.
Please see below quick quotes as Ramdin spoke to WICB Media:
On the team’s preparation so far:
The days that we had training here I think our batsmen coped quite well with the grass and the bounce we saw on the pitches. We are a young team – not many of the players have played here in South Africa before so we made sure we put in a lot of hard work in the nets during the preparation camp. The bowlers got what they wanted, everyone maintained the required workload and did some spot-bowling and drills as well so we are confident going into this match.
On the warm-up match:
It is very important that the batsmen use the time wisely to get acclimatised to the pitch conditions which are quite different to what we get back home in the Caribbean. We will use all 15 members in the squad so everyone will get a chance to play. This is our only warm-up match so we see it as the chance to get more preparation against high-quality opponents. Everyone is fit and ready and we also want everyone to be match-ready when the time comes for the first Test.
On the upcoming Test Series:
It will be a challenge, it’s never easy playing at the international level…it is a test of your skills and your mental strength, but we are quite confident and we believe we will be well prepared. The last time we came here seven years ago we won the first Test match so we can take confidence from that – the way we played. Going forward, everyone is keen to do well, especially against the world Number 1 team in their backyard. We believe we can do something special on this trip.
FULL SQUAD
Denesh Ramdin (Captain)
Sulieman Benn
Jermaine Blackwood
Kraigg Braithwaite
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Sheldon Cottrell
Assad Fudadin
Shannon Gabriel
Jason Holder
Leon Johnson
Kemar Roach
Marlon Samuels
Devon Smith
Jerome Taylor
Chadwick Walton
SCHEDULE OF MATCHES
December 10-12: vs SA Invitational XI – Willowmore Park, Benoni
December 17-21: 1st Test – SuperSport Park, Centurion
December 26-30: 2nd Test – St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth
January 2-6: 3rd Test – Newlands, Cape Town
January 9: 1st T20I – Newlands, Cape Town
January 11: 2nd T20I – New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
January 14: 3rd T20I – Kingsmead, Durban
January 16: 1st ODI – Kingsmead, Durban
January 18: 2nd ODI – New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
January 21: 3rd ODI – Buffalo Park, East London
January 25: 4th ODI – St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth
January 28: 5th ODI – SuperSport Park, Centurion
TOUR NOTES:
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