The veteran fast bowler Kemar Roach of the West Indies has been left out of their 15-man team for the forthcoming Test tour of England due to a knee injury he suffered while competing for Surrey in the County Championship.
Kemar Roach, who turns 36 on Sunday, has played six times this season for Surrey, the reigning County Champions. He has taken 18 wickets at a cost of 25.77, and in his penultimate encounter against Warwickshire at the Kia Oval in May, he demonstrated his durable reverse-swing skills with a match-winning spell of 6 for 46.
But Kemar Roach did not play in the last match of his county career, which was against Hampshire, even though he took four more wickets in Surrey’s subsequent victory over Worcestershire at home. Now, as the West Indies prepare for the opening Test match between England and the West Indies at Lord’s on July 10, he has been replaced by Jeremiah Louis, the brother of fellow traveller and opening batsman Mikyle and an uncapped fast bowler from St. Kitts and Nevis.
“We will miss Kevin’s expertise and familiarity with English conditions,” stated senior selector for the West Indies, Desmond Haynes. But for Jeremiah Louis, this chance has been long in the making. He very definitely have the knowledge and expertise to be successful in England.”
Kemar Roach, the veteran of the West Indies attack, who stands at No. 5 in their all-time list with 270 Test wickets at a rate of 27.74, is deeply hurt by this. Sixty-one of those came in sixteen prior Test matches against England, whom he had played at Lord’s in 2012. It was there that he put his name on the dressing-room honours board, finishing with five for seventy-two on his subsequent visit in 2017.
In remarks made earlier in the summer, Kemar Roach had praised the West Indies’ chances of contending fiercely in their three-match series, especially in the fast-bowling department. Shamar Joseph, the star of their win over Australia in Brisbane this winter, along with Jayden Seales and Alzarri Joseph together form one of the most formidable seam attacks since the area’s golden age in the 1980s and 1990s.
James Anderson, England’s veteran fast, revealed last month that the Lord’s Test would be the final match of his 21-year career.
Kemar Roach joked between them that West Indies were hellbent on “ruining” his goodbye.
Roach had admitted as much in May. “I have no retirement time in sight,” “Obviously it’s all about the performances, but I feel like I can stay as long as I want. As you age, your ability to perform improves in order to be on the squad.
“I’ve been doing great, but I just want to maintain supporting the kids to make sure they’re in a healthy, both physically and mentally. If necessary, I’ll be glad to see those men come after me and smash those records.”
Cricket West Indies also announced that 19-year-old Guyana fast bowler Isai Thorne will be called up to the team as a development player in addition to Louis’ call-up. From July 3-6, the team is scheduled to play a warm-up match against a County Select XI at Beckenham.
Test team from the West Indies
Jason Holder, Kavem Hodge, Tevin Imlach, Alzarri Joseph (vc), Shamar Joseph, Mikyle Louis, Zachary McCaskie, Kirk McKenzie, Gudakesh Motie, Jeremiah Louis, Jayden Seales, and Kevin Sinclair are the players who make up Kraigg Brathwaite’s captaincy.
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