Pollard to lead West Indies against Ireland, England

ST JOHN'S: Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Saturday (IST) announced the squads for the upcoming limited-overs series against Ireland and England, with Kieron Pollard as the captain for both the series.

Three players -- Keacy Carty, Sheldon Cottrell, Hayden Walsh Jr -- have been kept as COVID-19 reserves for the ODI series against Ireland, while Jayden Seales, Alzarri Joseph ad Devon Thomas are the COVID-19 reserves for the two T20I series.

The West Indies will start the New Year at Sabina Park, Jamaica as they host Ireland in the three-match One-Day International series and a one-off T20 International from January 8 to 16. The two-time world champions will then travel to Barbados to face England in five T20Is at Kensington Oval from January 22 to 30.

"We have tried to maintain the general make-up of the squads from the Pakistan tour before Christmas, with the captain and some senior players coming back in. COVID-19 has also played a part in the final make-up of the squad. The challenges in the next couple months are getting the young players in both squads to not only improve on their skills but maintain the attitude and desire we saw in Pakistan," head coach Phil Simmons said.

"We do need to start the year on a high. And we know both Ireland and England have very good teams, so we expect a very strong challenge as we look improve our chances of automatic qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2023 and building the T20 team for the ICC T20 World Cup in 2022."

The ODI series between West Indies and Ireland will be a part of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League, in which the top seven teams can secure automatic qualification for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 in India. IANS

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