Dominica’s Alick Athanaze will get one final opportunity to impress ahead of the ICC men’s T20 World Cup as he has been included in a 16-member squad of the upcoming 3-match T20 series with Afghanistan in the United Arab Emirates starting next week.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) President, Dr. Kishore Shallow recently indicated that the World Cup team will be announced after the Afghanistan series.
Athanaze has had a decent run in T20 cricket with an average of 25, a strike rate of 125 and 2 half centuries from his 14 matches played.
Meantime, Brandon King has been named the captain for the tour with Shai Hope, Roston Chase, Akeal Hosein and Shurfayne Rutherford all unavailable due to commitments in the South African T20 league (SA T20).
Quentin Sampson who was the breakout player of the 2025 CPL has been handed a maiden call up, while Shamar Joseph returns from injury.
Sampson replaces Rovman Powell, who has been rested for the series along with Jason Holder and Romario Shepherd as part of a workload management plan.
Head Coach Daren Sammy explained that beyond serving as a fine-tuning exercise ahead of the ICC World Cup, the series also provides an opportunity to reintegrate key players returning after extended absences.
“The opportunity to play competitive matches in subcontinental conditions is ideal, as it assists with our preparations and confidence building ahead of what will be a competitive T20 World Cup.”
“It also presents a valuable platform to assess players who would’ve missed significant time towards the end of 2025, as well as those stepping into important roles for this series, prior to the selection of the final squad for the international tournament.”
The full team is Brandon King (Captain), Alick Athanaze, Keacy Carty, Johnson Charles, Matthew Forde, Justin Greaves, Amir Jangoo, Shamar Joseph, Evin Lewis, Gudakesh Motie, Khary Pierre, Quentin Sampson, Jayden Seales, Ramon Simmonds, Shamar Springer and Shimron Hetmyer.
The T20 series with Afghanistan gets underway from January 19–22.
The squad will depart the Caribbean on January 14
