Batsman Ian Billcliff is the only notable omission from Canada's preliminary 30-man squad for the 2011 World Cup. Ashish Bagai has been named captain and the squad also includes veteran allrounder John Davison who has been actively involved with Cricket Australia as a spin bowling coach.
Chris James, the chairman of selectors, said it was a tough decision to omit Billcliff, who has played 19 ODIs for Canada averaging just under 28, including three games during the 2007 World Cup in West Indies. "It was an especially difficult decision for us when it came down to Billy (Billcliff). Internationally, he has been one of our top-rated performers. Unfortunately we were unable to line up our schedules with the preparation tours and we had to leave him out."
Canada have just completed a short tour of India where they played against several sides. They next head to the West Indies for the Caribbean T20 in January where they will also play a few 50-over matches against Antigua and Somerset.
"We are confident that we have found the right mix of youth and experience to represent Canada at the World Cup and build a solid foundation for the future of Canadian cricket," James said.
The final 15-man World Cup line-up will be named after their participation in the Caribbean T20 tournament.
Canada squad: Ashish Bagai (capt), Waleed Ahmad, Manny Aulakh, Akshay Bagai, Harvir Baidwan, Trevin Bastiampillai, Umar Bhatti, Grant Broadhurst, Rizwan Cheema, Khurram Chohan, John Davison, Parth Desai, Jeremy Gordon, Tyson Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Amabhir Hansra, Sandeep Jyoti, Nitish Kumar, Usman Limbada, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Cecil Pervez, Balaji Rao, Manrick Singh, Junaid Siddiqui, Zeeshan Siddiqui, Zubin Surkari, Hamza Tariq, Karl Whatham, Zameer Zaheer
