Joe Clarke is set to come face to face with former Worcestershire team-mate Miguel Cummins in England Lions opening four-day ‘Test’ against West Indies ‘A’ at the Trelawny Multiplex, Jamaica starting on Sunday.
Clarke and Windies paceman Cummins played for the County at the tail-end of the 2016 season, most notably when the latter took 12 wickets in a dramatic win over Sussex inside three days at Hove.
Cummins is part of a strong ‘A’ team squad which will be skippered by Kieran Powell who played all three Tests against England last summer.
Jermaine Blackwood, the hard-hitting Jamaican who scored his only Test century against England in Antigua in 2015, will be joined in the middle-order by wicketkeeper-batsman Shane Dowrich.
And the seam attack will feature two members of West Indies’ most recent Test team in Cummins and left-armer Raymon Reifer.
Clarke was dismissed for 11 on the opening day of England Lions three-day warm-up match with a Jamaica X1 at Sabina Park.
Keaton Jennings, who is captaining the Lions for a second consecutive winter as he aims to regain his England place, scored an unbeaten 129 in a total of 263 for eight declared.
He shared an opening stand of 40 with one of his new Lancashire team-mates, Haseeb Hameed, but the most prolonged support came from the Red Rose wicketkeeper Alex Davies, who made 54 in a seventh-wicket partnership of 97.
Hameed (18), Liam Livingstone (11) and Ben Foakes (18) all made double figures in addition to Clarke and there were single figure scores for Nick Gubbins, Dan Lawrence and Paul Coughlin.
Jennings’ declaration allowed the Lions seamers to have eight overs against their hosts before the close.
That meant a return to competitive action for both Toby Roland-Jones and Jamie Porter after they were diagnosed with back injuries last autumn, and they each took two wickets as the Jamaicans closed on 36 for four.
The Lions hope to give all 16 members of their squad some time in the middle in what is not a first-class fixture.
West Indies A squad: Kieran Powell (captain), Shamarh Brooks (vice captain), Jermaine Blackwood, John Campbell, Rahkeem Cornwall, Miguel Cummins, Shane Dowrich, Jahmar Hamilton, Keon Joseph, Jeremiah Louis, Raymon Reifer, Vishaul Singh, Jomel Warrican
MATCH SCHEDULE
1st “Test” – Trelawny Multiplex, Jamaica
Sunday, February 11 to Wednesday, February 14
2nd “Test” – Sabina Park, Jamaica
Sunday, February 18 to Wednesday, February 21
3rd “Test” – Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua
Monday, February 26 to Thursday, March 1
