Kemar Roach has been recalled to the West Indies Test squad for their tour of New Zealand in December this year. Roach was part of a 15-member squad for the three matches, but Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph are still missing, due to injuries.Roach last played a Test in January, in Multan during their tour of Pakistan, and his 85-Test record will balance out a relatively inexperienced pace attack, which also includes 29-year-old Ojay Shields, who has received his maiden call-up.

Allrounder Kavem Hodge, who also made his last Test appearance during the Multan match, has been recalled to the side. However, Khary Pierre finds himself and his left-arm orthodox spin bowling out of favour - he has been dropped from the squad.Cricket West Indies' Director of Cricket, Miles Bascombe, said, "New Zealand has traditionally been one of the toughest places for any touring sideů .

The recent high-performance camp here in Antigua was designed to replicate, as closely as possible, the conditions we expect to face, particularly the pace-friendly surfaces. Shields and Roach, among other players named in the squad, have completed a two-week high-performance camp in the region. They will also be joining the rest of the squad - already in New Zealand for the ongoing ODI series - on November 20, to be part of a two-day warm-up match against a New Zealand XI in Christchurch.

The series will be a part of the ongoing World Test Championship cycle. West Indies sit at the bottom of the table among the teams who have played at least one Test in the cycle - they have lost all five of the matches they have appeared in so far. New Zealand, on the other hand, are yet to play a match in the cycle, and this series against West Indies will get their WTC campaign belatedly off the mark. Roston Chase (Captain), Jomel Warrican (Vice- Captain), Alick Athanaze, John Campbell, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Shai Hope, Tevin Imlach, Brandon King, Johann Layne, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Ojay Shields.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)