After months of hard work on his fitness and some technical improvements, veteran speedster Shannon Gabriel has been recalled to the West Indies Test squad for next month’s tour of Zimbabwe.
And Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) coach Kelvin Williams believes the 34-year-old is ready for his second act.
Williams has been working with Gabriel on his bowling, while Jason Pilgrim had the pacer on a fitness programme. That work has already paid dividends with Gabriel emerging as the joint leading wicket-taker in the Super50 Cup at the end of last year.
The pacer also looked lean and fit in the recent T&T Red Force test matches.
“He’s the one who will leave the house at 4 in the morning to do what he has to do. He is ready for it. He knows what he is doing and once he can stay injury free I expect good things from him in Zimbabwe.
He is ready to return to the West Indies line-up and I am quite happy with that,” Williams told the Express yesterday.
“I thought he did a lot of work physically. As for the bowling, watching him now, I think his speed has increased since the last time he played. His control is good at the moment and I hope he can be injury free throughout the Zimbabwe tour,” Williams continued.
“Shannon is someone who has dedicated himself to his fitness program and trying to improve his bowling. These days there is a lot of pressure when playing test match cricket and to be on the park your fitness has to be up there. He focused a lot on that and we did a lot of skill work in terms of his bowling.
Jason Pilgrim did the fitness program with him and I was looking after the bowling side,” he explained.
The 34-year-old, once spearheading the Caribbean side’s attack, has not featured in a Test for 15 months due to injury and loss of form, but now returns alongside former new ball partner Kemar Roach, who will lead the bowling group.
Gabriel turned out for the Reds last year, struggling in the first-class campaign with a single wicket in four matches, but excelling in the Super50 Cup with 15 wickets from seven outings. “He came back with a little injury,” Williams recalled, “but he started working right away.”
“I thought he played well in the Super50 and I believe that’s why he’s retiring,” Williams added. Gabriel has received
161 wickets from 56 Tests.
Gabriel’s presence will be critical for the West Indies as 21-year-old seamer Jayden Seales has been ruled out of the upcoming tour after undergoing knee surgery, while fellow Trinidadian Anderson Phillip, 26, has also been sidelined with injury. .
“With our fast players, Seales has done extremely well for us since he started in 2021, but with him unavailable, we have decided that Gabriel would be able to fill that role best,” said chief selector Desmond Haynes. “He is an experienced player who has been at international level for more than 10 years and has knowledge of the conditions in Zimbabwe when we won there in 2017.”
Left-arm spinners Jomel Warrican and Gudakesh Motie have also earned memories. Warrican, too, played his last Test 15 months ago but led the Barbados Pride attack in last year’s first-class championship with 13 wickets at 25 runs apiece.
The 27-year-old Motie, meanwhile, made his Test debut last June against Bangladesh but has not played since. “We looked at the conditions we expect to play in, and we’ve included two left-arm spinners who didn’t go to Australia, in Motie and Warrican,” Haynes said.
Captain Kraigg Brathwaite leads a team that includes impressive left-handed opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who excelled in Australia’s recent tour with an average of 40.
The selectors have trusted all-rounder Raymon Reifer even though he missed out on the Australia tour after picking up a groin injury, while batsman Devon Thomas, who made his Test debut Down Under, has also been retained. However, stylish right-armer Shamarh Brooks has paid the price for 52 runs from four innings in Australia and has been dropped.
The West Indies take on Zimbabwe in the opening Test starting on February 4 at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo and return to the same venue to bowl the second Test from February 12.
“This is the start of the international calendar for 2023 and we will be hoping to start with a win,” said Haynes. “We appreciate that it will not be an easy task as Zimbabwe, like most other teams in world cricket, play very well on their home soil, on pitches that will support their style of play.”
West Indies have won all five of their Test series against the African nation.
Squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Jermaine Blackwood (vice-captain), Nkrumah Bonner, Tagnarine Chanderpaul, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Raymar Roach, Kefer, Devon Thomas , Jomel Warrican.
