Hinds to lead Jamaica in T20

Wavell Hinds, the former West Indies batsman, has been named as captain of Jamaica's team for next year's West Indies Cricket Board Caribbean T20 Tournament. Hinds, 34, will fill the role in the absence of regular skipper Chris Gayle, who will be representing Western Australia at the Twenty20 Big Bash - the dates of which clash with the West Indian competition.

Tamar Lambert, who captained Jamaica at the inaugural Caribbean T20 in July, has been dropped but fast bowler Jerome Taylor has recovered from injury and is set to make a return to cricket at the regional level. The one newcomer in the side is 22-year-old left-arm seamer Sheldon Cotterel.

West Indies players Carlton Baugh, Andre Russell and Nikita Miller - who were part of the national squad on the recent tour to Sri Lanka - are also among the 14-man squad that will take part in the tournament from January 10 to 23 at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium in Antigua and Kensington Oval in Barbados.

Allrounder Carlos Brathwaite is the only new face in the Barbados squad for the competition. Brathwaite, an opening batsman and medium-pacer, has been rewarded for consistent performance for Banks in the domestic Division 1 tournament. He will join his cousin Jonathan Carter, who was the second highest run-scorer in this year's domestic Twenty20 competition, in the squad.

The Bajans will be without experienced opening batsman Dale Richards, who is out with an injury, but they have however been bolstered by the inclusion of West Indies players Kemar Roach and Sulieman Benn. They will also have fast bowler Tino Best, who has played 26 games for West Indies, and allrounder Dwayne Smith to call upon.

There were few surprises in Canada's squad for the tournament with Ashish Bagai - their most accomplished batsman - set to captain. His presence can surely only bolster a side that was handed two comprehensive nine-wicket thrashings in the previous edition of the competition - from which Bagai was absent.

Hiral Patel, the 19-year-old batsman who boasts an average of 42.66 in Twenty20 internationals, lends a touch of class to their middle order while Rizwan Cheema, who has hit 38 sixes in 29 international limited-overs games, adds much-needed firepower.

Ugandan-born seamer Henry Osinde will lead the bowling attack and will be hoping for solid support from medium-pacer Harvir Baidwan, who has an enviable record in Twenty20s, and legspinner Balaji Rao, who represented India Youth in the mid-1990s and also turned out for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy.

Canada's training camp opens in Toronto on Boxing day and the team leaves for the Caribbean on January 5.

Jamaica squad: Wavell Hinds (Captain), Xavier Marshall, Danza Hyatt, Marlon Samuels, Horace Miller, David Bernard, Carlton Baugh, Andre Russell, Jerome Taylor, Nikita Miller, Krishmar Santokie, Odean Brown, Shawn Findlay, Sheldon Cotterell.

Barbados squad: Ryan Hinds (capt), Sulieman Benn, Tino Best, Rashidi Boucher, Carlos Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Kirk Edwards, Alcindo Holder, Carlo Morris, Ashley Nurse, Kemar Roach, Javon Searles, Dwayne Smith, Kevin Stoute

Canada squad: Ashish Bagai (Capt), Harvir Baidwan, Khurram Chohan, Rizwan Cheema, Parth Desai, Tyson Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Jimmy Hansra, Nitish Kumar, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Balaji Rao, Zubin Surkari, Hamza Tariq, Karl Whatham