Charles to be cruelly exposed

St Lucian and Windwards opening batsman, Johnson Charles, heads to Australia with the West Indies team for the five match One Day International series.{{more}}

Charles, 24, who made his ODI debut last year in the Caribbean against the Australians, has played eight matches since, and featured in the home series against New Zealand.

But his record does not light up the world — scoring 152 runs at an average of 19 runs. His highest score to date is 45.

The hard-hitting right-hander was part of the triumphant West Indies team that lifted the ICC T-20 World Cup in Sri Lanka in October.

There, Charles recorded his highest innings for the West Indies — 84 versus England.

But in what can be considered a lesser tour, Charles was over looked for the ODI matches with Bangladesh late last year.

It is felt that Charles, who is gifted with good hand-eye coordination, will struggle on the more bouncy pitches in Australia.

And, in the recent Caribbean T-20, Charles failed to impress — scoring 62 runs from his 6 innings, batting at the top of the order.

Nevisian Kieran Powell is one of Charles’ opening partners on the Australia tour.

The 22-year-old Powell has played 11 ODI matches — tallying 156 runs at an average of 14.18 per innings. The left-hander’s highest score is 47.

The West Indies team, which embarks on its sojourn later this week, also sees the recall of Ramnaresh Sarwan — who has been outside the West Indies set up for more than a year — while Jason Holder gets another look in.

Holder was called up to replace Tino Best on the Bangladesh tour late last year, but is yet to play a senior team ODI.

The rest of the team is Darren Sammy — captain, Dwayne Bravo — vice captain, Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Narsighn Deonarine, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roache, Andre Russell, and Devon Thomas.

The West Indies open their tour with a match against the Prime Minister’s XI at Canberra, on January 29.

The first ODI is set for Perth in Western Australia on February 1 — a day/night encounter, with the second at the same venue two days later.

The third is carded for Canberra on February 6; the fourth — February 8 at Sydney, and the fifth at Melbourne February 10. (RT)