St John's (Antigua), Nov 21 (NationPress) Kemar Roach has been reinstated into the West Indies Test squad for their upcoming December tour of New Zealand. The seasoned fast bowler is part of a 15-member team for the three-match series, filling the gap left by Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph, who are both recovering from injuries.

Roach, whose last Test appearance was in January during the tour of Pakistan, brings much-needed experience to a pace attack that lacks in seasoned players. This lineup features Ojay Shields, a 29-year-old making his debut in the Test squad.

Additionally, allrounder Kavem Hodge has made a return to the squad after his last Test in Multan, while left-arm spinner Khary Pierre has been excluded.

Shields, Roach, and other squad members recently completed a two-week high-performance training camp in the Caribbean. They will join the rest of the team, which is already in New Zealand for the ongoing ODI leg, on November 20, prior to a two-day warm-up match against a New Zealand XI in Christchurch.

These upcoming Tests are part of the current World Test Championship cycle. The West Indies currently sit at the bottom of the standings among teams that have played, having lost all five of their matches to date. In contrast, New Zealand is set to kick off their WTC campaign with this series.

According to Miles Bascombe, Cricket West Indies' Director of Cricket, "New Zealand has historically been one of the most challenging locations for touring teams, which is why we are focusing heavily on targeted preparation. The recent high-performance camp in Antigua aimed to closely replicate the conditions we expect to face, particularly on pace-friendly pitches."

"This level of intentional preparation, along with the advantage of having several squad members already acclimatizing in New Zealand for the white-ball segment of the tour, positions this group as one of the most prepared West Indies teams to tour there in recent years."

West Indies squad: Roston Chase (c), Jomel Warrican (vc), 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.