‘Campbell paying price for poor performances’

Former Jamaica and West Indies spinner Nikita Miller says the omission of national batsman John Campbell from the Test squad for upcoming matches against South Africa was no surprise as his recent below par performances left the West Indies selectors with no other choice.

The provisional 17-man squad to face the Proteas in the two-match series in St Lucia was released last Friday with Campbell not featured in the latest call-ups. Miller says Campbell being dropped was a result of his recent string of poor performances with the bat.

"Campbell was under a bit of pressure going into the practice game. He really didn't score any runs so that to me (his exclusion) was not much of a surprise," Miller told STAR Sports "It's up to him now to redouble his efforts, try and come back, put in some work and try and regain his place on the team."

Campbell has struggled with the bat in his last four Test matches failing to post a score of at least 50 or higher in the series against Bangladesh in February and most recently against Sri Lanka in March. He posted scores of 42 and 11 in the first Test while only managing to score 15 runs between two innings in the second Test.

In the first Test against Bangladesh he had scores of three and 23 in his first and second innings, respectively, while in the second Test he had scores of 36 in the first innings and 18 in the second.

Shai Hope and Roston Chase return to the squad after being absent from the Bangladesh series because of COVID-19 concerns and not being selected for the recent Sri Lanka Test series. Nkrumah Bonner and Kyle Mayers are among those who keep their places as well as wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva and Darren Bravo.

Miller says that the team is a strong enough side that should give captain Kraigg Brathwaite some confidence. He said the experience gained recently in English county cricket by fast bowlers Alzarri Joseph and Kemar Roach should help the team.

"I believe this team is a strong one. They have good experience and you have guys like Bonner and Mayers who are doing well. I think we have enough fire power to get the job done. The skipper has been finding a bit of form recently and he got some runs while playing in England, Joseph and Roach got some experience in England as well," Miller said. "Hopefully, they can take that form into the Test series and push the bowling unit to try and get 20 wickets in the game."

The final roster is expected to be released today. The first Test in St Lucia will begin on Thursday at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground. South Africa currently enjoy a winning Test record against the West Indies with 18 victories, three defeats and seven draws.