CHAGUARAMAS: Sherman Lewis, the right-arm fast bowler from Windward Islands, has been called up to West Indies’ Test squad for their tour of India in October. Lewis replaces Alzarri Joseph, who has been ruled out as he continues to recover from a stress fracture of the back suffered late last year.
Lewis made his first-class debut for Windward Islands in March last year and made a mark with 30 scalps at 21.66 in the Regional Four Day Tournament. Lewis also toured England with the West Indies A team for matches against India A and England Lions earlier this year. In the first unofficial Test against India at the Kent County Cricket Ground, he took four-wicket hauls in each innings as both teams traded the advantage before West Indies held off India for a draw.
The decision to keep Joseph out was made after two fitness assessments, after which the Cricket West Indies medical panel made its recommendation. Joseph’s progress will be monitored at the High-Performance Centre at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. He did return to limited-overs cricket in the preceding home series against Bangladesh, and was picked in the squad for the second Test of that series but did not play. He did get in four CPL games, though, after that.
West Indies face India in two Tests, the first of which begins on October 4 in Rajkot. They will then play five ODIs, before the tour concludes with three T20 internationals. Members of the squad have already begun preparation for the tour with training sessions at the ICC Academy in Dubai.