Kirk Edwards named in West Indies A squad

Kirk Edwards

St. John's (Antigua), Sep 27 (IANS/CMC) Out-of-form batsman Kirk Edwards has been given the opportunity to regain his form after being named in a 14-man West Indies A squad to tour Sri Lanka next month.

Right-handed Edwards has been joined by fellow current Test players Kraigg Brathwaite, Shannon Gabriel, Shane Shillingford and Jermaine Blackwood, in a squad that will be led by all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite, reports CMC.

Though, the West Indies dominated Bangladesh in the recent two-Test series, Edwards struggled badly with 25 runs in his three innings. In the preceding one-day series, the Barbados player scored just 10 runs from two trips to the crease.

With the West Indies facing India in a three-Test series starting October 30, Edwards will be hoping to strike form against the Sri Lankans in order to force himself into the senior side again. He averages 31 from 17 Tests and needs 14 runs to reach 1,000 runs.

Brathwaite, meanwhile, will use the A-tour to fine-tune his form for the India series. He was voted Man-of-the-Series against Bangladesh following his career-best double century and the A-tour jaunt will give him valuable match practice.

Windward Islands batsman Sunil Ambris has been called up along with Barbados speedster Miguel Cummins, and discarded West Indies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo.

However, there is no room for Barbados batting all-rounder Jonathan Carter who averaged 32 with the bat against Bangladesh A in two four-day matches earlier this year, including a half-century in the second game.

Carter also stroked an unbeaten half-century in the second Twenty20 and grabbed a three-wicket haul in the third one-dayer.

The West Indies A play Sri Lanka A in three matches running from October 11-28. The first match is scheduled for the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium in Hambantota.

The three one-day matches will be played from Nov 1-5 starting in Dambulla.