Roach not in West Indies’ plans going forward, says Bascombe

ROSEAU, Dominica – Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) Director of Cricket, Miles Bascombe has revealed that veteran pacer Kemar Roach is not in the West Indies’ plans for the future.

The 36-year-old Barbadian was not included in the 16-man squad to face Australia in a three-match Test series, which bowls off on Wednesday at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Along with regular fast bowlers Jayden Seales, Alzarri Joseph, and Shamar Joseph, selectors opted to go with uncapped 21-year-old Johann Layne as the fourth seamer in the attack.

Roach’s 284 wickets in 85 matches makes him the fifth-highest wicket-taker for the West Indies in Tests.

He has also played in 95 One Day Internationals where he has taken 125 wickets.

There were reports last year that Roach was in discussions with CWI regarding a potential dual playing and coaching/mentorship role as he plans the next stage of his career.

However, speaking in a recent interview on QFM Dominica, Bascombe said while Roach had made a tremendous contribution to West Indies cricket, he believed now was the best time to move on.

He said he and head coach Daren Sammy had spoken with Roach about their plans to move forward without him.

“Kemar has been excellent for West Indies and we had the conversation with him, and we spoke to him and we let him know the direction that we wanted to go.

“It was no slight on what he has done for West Indies cricket, but again, we are planning World Test Championship 2027 on to 2029 and at some point, we have to be able to really put down some markers that we have planning for the future,” Bascombe said.

“It wasn’t the easiest of conversations to have and it’s difficult in one breath to tell someone that you’re moving on, but in the same breath try to get them to understand that it’s no slight on their contribution to West Indies cricket.

“But like I said, I just wanted to ensure that we had that conversation out of respect for what he did. So, myself, the head coach, we were part of that discussion, but I think that at some point we had to move on and at the start of a new Test Championship is as good a time as any,” he added.

CMC