CASTRIES, St Lucia (CMC) – West Indies opening batsman Devon Smith is one of three changes made to the Windward Islands side for this weekend’s semi-final clash with Combined Campuses and Colleges in the Regional First Class Championship. The left-handed Smith, a member of West Indies’ failed World Cup campaign, will replace another left-handed batsman Atticus Browne but West Indies captain Darren Sammy will not be in action for the Windwards who are vying for a place in the final.
“We will be having Devon Smith back with us although we will not be having the West Indies captain Darren Sammy who is unavailable for this game,” Windwards manager Lockhart Sebastien told CMC Sports Tuesday.
“The batting will be strengthened although the bowling will be weakened because Kenroy Peters and Mervyn Matthew are both nursing injuries and will be returning home.”
Windwards selectors have also called up Grenadian batsman Lynden Lawrence and Dominican left-arm seamer Vincent Lewis to replace fast bowlers Peters and Matthew
Both bowlers will be sorely missed as they have been among the leading bowlers after the preliminary matches, both having claimed 21 victims.
Despite the setbacks, Sebastien said the Windwards were positive they could come up trumps against CCC.
“We feel confident. We have been playing as a team and if we play to our potential we will do well in Barbados,” he pointed out.
“We had a few young guys. We struggled sometimes in our second innings. The batting has not always been consistent although our bowling has been outstanding. We have been a successful bowling team – playing as a unit has always been our strength.”
Commenting on the final preliminary round match against the Leewards, the former Windward Islands and Combined Islands player said the Windwards did superbly in a “must-win” situation.
The Windwards finished with 41 points, giving them the fourth qualifying spot behind leaders CCC on 57, second-placed Trinidad and Tobago on 52 and Jamaica third on 51.
“If we had lost and Barbados won we would have been knocked out so we were very confident we could have done the job against Leeward Islands and we did it,” he asserted.
“Most people did not expect us to go into the semi-finals because from last year’s team we lost, for various reasons, Darren Sammy, Devon Smith, Shane Shillingford, Rawl Lewis and Deighton Butler.
“These are five people who have played for the Windward Islands for a number of years. That’s already a negative.”