Bajan duo in WI one-day squad

BRIDGETOWN: All-rounder Ian Bradshaw and batsman Kurt Wilkinson of Barbados are the new faces in the West Indies one-day cricket squad for the upcoming series of five internationals in South Africa, officials said yesterday.

Ryan Hurley, also Barbadian, and Ricardo Powell, a Jamaican playing with Trinidad and Tobago in the Carib Cup, will also join the team which is already on tour. The series takes place later this month and in February. The 28-year-old Hurley played four One-Day Internationals during the 2003 season while hard-hitting right-hander Powell, 25, is a veteran of 79 one-dayers. Batsman Daren Ganga, fast bowler Adam Sanford, wicket-keeper Carlton Baugh Jr. and left-arm wrist spinner Dave Mohammed are to return to the Caribbean following the fourth and final Test in South Africa on January 20.

The West Indies Cricket Board initially reported that Baugh Jr was a member of the squad while experienced left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul would be given time to rest his injured leg ahead of the home series against England beginning in March. But officials later said that Chanderpaul would participate in the internationals, not Baugh Jr. The 29-year-old Bradshaw, a left-hander, and Wilkinson, 22, both starred in Barbados’ victory over Guyana in the opening round Carib Beer Series first-class match over the weekend.

Bradshaw, a former West Indies Under-19 captain, earned the “Man-of-the-Match” award with figures of six wickets for 91 and an unbeaten 65. Right-hander Wilkinson stroked a 116 in the first innings and added the winning boundary in a 10-wicket win. “It is a great privilege,” medium pacer Bradshaw said after learning of his selection. “I am just hoping to take full advantage of the opportunity given to me ... I’m overjoyed.” West Indies squad: Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice captain), Chris Gayle, Ridley Jacobs, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Smith, Vasbert Drakes, Ravi Rampaul, Mervyn Dillon, Fidel Edwards, Corey Collymore, Ryan Hurley, Ian Bradshaw, Ricardo Powell, and Kurt Wilkinson.