Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie had to be withdrawn late from the XI for the second England-West Indies Test at Trent Bridge - here's why.
Motie was originally named in the unchanged XI
Motie, who was arguably the pick of the West Indies bowlers on display at Lord's, was named in the unchanged XI West Indies announced a day before the start of the second Test in Nottingham.
The left-arm spinner recorded figures of 2-41 from 16 overs in the only innings that West Indies bowled in the first Test, knocking out Joer Root and Ben Stokes' stumps with two beautiful deliveries.
On a surface expected to be slightly more conducive to spin bowling, Motie was expected to play a big part in the West Indies bowling attack for the second Test.
🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) July 17, 2024
An unchanged playing XI will face England in the 2nd Test at Trent Bridge.#ENGvWI | #MenInMaroon | #Apex pic.twitter.com/cQK8tDVgK0
Why is Motie not playing the second Test?
A few minutes before the toss on Thursday, news broke out that Motie "woke up feeling unwell" and had to be replaced in the XI by Kevin Sinclair. West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite then confirmed at the toss that the spinner had caught the flu, making him unfit to take the field.
Bad news for West Indies: Gudakesh Motie misses out after waking up feeling unwell, and has been replaced in the team by Kevin Sinclair.
— Lawrence Booth (@BoothCricket) July 18, 2024
Sinclair, who is Motie's teammate at Guyana, is a batting all-rounder who bowls off-spin. This is just his second Test match, but he has more than a decent first-class record with the ball, having taken 80 wickets in 29 games at an average of 25.81. To go with that, he also has a first-class batting average of 38.70.
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