• Windies at full strength for SA

    The West Indies have named a full-strength Test squad for the tour of South Africa next month, despite the recent strike on the back of an impasse between the West Indies Cricket Board and West Indies Players’ Association.

    A payment structure dispute between the WICB and WIPA saw October’s tour of India curtailed. The fourth ODI at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharmasala was the last of a series that was scheduled to feature six limited-overs fixtures and three Tests.

    The main cause of the disagreement was the memorandum of understanding and the combined bargaining agreement signed in September. Player representative and ODI captain Dwayne Bravo had claimed WIPA president and CEO Wavell Hinds had signed the financial document without the contracted squad’s consent.

    The players have since been given an 18 November deadline to sign contracts for the South African tour, which will bring three Tests, three Twenty20 Internationals and five ODIs between 17 December 2014 and 28 January 2015.

    ‘Of course at all times the selection panel aims to select the best and strongest team available. We look forward to this squad giving a good account of themselves for the three Tests in South Africa,’ said chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd.

    ‘There is a significant amount of international cricket to be played over the next six months, including Test matches against some of the higher ranked teams in world cricket and as such it would be critical for the squad to get off on a positive note in South Africa.’

    Test squad: Denesh Ramdin (captain), Sulieman Benn, Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Leon Johnson, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton.

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