Taylor omitted from Ja’s T20 training squad
INJURY-PRONE fastbowler Jerome Taylor has been left out of a 25-member Jamaica squad preparing for the Caribbean Twenty20 (T20) tournament to be staged in Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados, starting next January.
The 27-year-old pacer who last represented the West Indies in June last year against the touring South Africans, has been plagued by a series of back and hip-related injuries since late 2009.
He was picked in a squad of 14 for the recent West Indies Cricket Board Super50 tournament in Guyana but did not play a game due to fitness concerns.
Also missing from the training squad is former West Indies captain Chris Gayle who is playing in Zimbabwe’s domestic T20 competition.
The left-handed opener is contracted to play for the Sydney Thunder in the Australian Big Bash T20 tournament which clashes with the Caribbean T20.
Gayle recently told the Observer he will represent Jamaica if he gets permission from the Sydney team.
Andre Russell, Danza Hyatt and Marlon Samuels are currently on tour with the West Indies team in the Asian sub-continent.
Wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh Jnr is expected to join the training squad after competing in the Test leg of the India tour.
Meanwhile, in yesterday’s first practice, David Bernard Jnr’s XI beat Tamar Lambert’s XI by five wickets at Kensington Park.
Further practice matches are scheduled for today at 1:00 pm, Thursday at 9:00 am and next Tuesday at 1:00 pm — all slated for Kensington Park.
The final squad is expected to be selected by December 6.
The selection panel consists of chairman Courtney Daley, former national opener Delroy Morgan and head coach Junior Bennett.
Training squad — Tamar Lambert, John Campbell, Kenar Lewis, Simon Jackson, Jermaine Blackwood, Brenton Parchment, Xavier Marshall, Andre McCarthy, Horace Miller, David Bernard Jnr, Shawn Findlay, Nkrumah Bonner, Chadwick Walton, Jamie Merchant, Sheldon Cotterell, Krishmar Santokie, Andrew Richardson, Nikita Miller, Odean Brown, Yanick Elliott, Damion Jacobs, Howard Powell, Oshane Walters, Fabian Forbes, Garth Garvey.
