Concacaf has conducted the official draw for the 2023 Concacaf U-17 Men’s Championship (CU17C).
The World Cup qualifying competition will take place February 11 - 26, 2023, in Guatemala, and will include the participation of 20 Concacaf Member Associations.
During Thursday’s draw, hosted at the Confederations Headquarters, in Miami, FL, the 16 nations participating in the 2023 CU17C group stage (all ranked 16 or better in the Concacaf Men’s U-17 Ranking) were divided into four groups of four teams each.
The groups are as follows:
Group E: Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, Curacao
Group F: USA, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados
Group G: Costa Rica, Jamaica, Cuba, Guadeloupe
Group H: Honduras, Haiti, El Salvador, Suriname
After group stage play, the top three nations in each group will advance to the knockout stage, joining the four 2022 Concacaf U-17 Men’s Qualifiers (CU17Q) group winners; Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Puerto Rico.
The four-round knockout stage (round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and final) will be played in a single-match elimination format and the four semifinalists will qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Peru 2023.
Matches will be divided across two venues, the Estadio Nacional Doroteo Guamuch Flores in Guatemala City and the Estadio Pensativo in Antigua.
The competition’s match schedule will be announced at a later date
Johnson Charles of the St Lucia Kings and Kyle Mayers of the Barbados Royals were among the 12-man 2022 Hero CPL Team of the Tournament released on Friday. Noticeably absent, however, is Brandon King of the Jamaica Tallawahs, who is the second highest run-scorer in the tournament and one of only three men who have scored hundreds in this year’s tournament.
The team that was picked by the Hero CPL commentary team – Ian Bishop, Samuel Badree, Daren Ganga, Simon Doull and Danny Morrison, also includes South Africa’s Faf Du Plessis, who captained the Kings and Tallawahs’ captain Rovman Powell.
In fact, players from the Kings and Tallawahs dominated the selection with only Sunil Narine of four-time champions Trinbago Knight Riders among the selectees while other than Mayers, only Jason Holder was selected among the 11 from the Barbados Royals.
However, the selection panel picked the Royals’ Ramon Simmonds as the 12th man as a result of his impressive performances throughout the tournament.
Simmonds is one of the 12 emerging players in the Hero CPL squads and has been an important part of the Barbados Royals team in 2022.
The 2022 Hero CPL Team of the Tournament: Johnson Charles (Saint Lucia Kings), Kyle Mayers (Barbados Royals), Faf Du Plessis (Saint Lucia Kings), Rovman Powell (Jamaica Tallawahs), Raymon Reifer (Jamaica Tallawahs), Imad Wasim (Jamaica Tallawahs), Jason Holder (Barbados Royals), David Wiese (Saint Lucia Kings), Alzarri Joseph (Saint Lucia Kings), Mohammad Amir (Jamaica Tallawahs) Sunil Narine (Trinbago Knight Riders) and 12th man – Ramon Simmonds (Barbados Royals).
Legendary Guyanese World Cup-winning captain Sir Clive Lloyd has praised the level of cricket in the ongoing 2022 Caribbean Premier League.
Lloyd, who led the West Indies to consecutive World Cup triumphs in 1975 and 1979, worked as a mentor for the Guyana Amazon Warriors, who lost to the Jamaica Tallawahs in qualifier 2 on Wednesday, throughout the season.
“It’s a mentoring role and I’m quite happy. I get to have a lot of chats with the young guys and so on,” said Lloyd on the Mason & Guest radio show on Tuesday.
From an individual perspective, “not many new names” was Lloyd’s response when asked about any standouts from this year’s edition. “The people that are making runs and taking wickets are established players,” he added before praising the overall level of cricket on display as well as the curators for the quality of the pitches being used.
“I think it has been quite good. We had quite a few good games in Guyana. I must commend the curators for the work they’ve put in on the pitches, they’ve played very well. The wickets have been good for stroke-play and the crowds have enjoyed it as well.”
“It’s been quite exciting and I’m sure that, in the future, it will continue to be that way,” he added.
Finally, when asked about advice he’d give to current West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran ahead of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, Lloyd was brief saying “I'm hoping that this captaincy thing is not restricting his play with the bat because he’s a real talent. Hopefully, he'll come good on those harder pitches.”
Twenty-two (22) of the best Under-19 women’s players from across the West Indies have been shortlisted as a provisional pool from which the West Indies squad for the ICC Women’s U19 Cricket World Cup, South Africa 2023 will be selected.
All six Regional Under-19 teams returned to competition in the West Indies Rising Stars Women’s U19 Championship held in Trinidad in July, following two years without any regional age-group cricket due to the coronavirus pandemic. Following the tournament, fifteen (15) of the twenty-two (22) players identified, played a historic five-match U19 T20 International (T20I) series against the USA at the Broward County Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida in August.
The CWI Selection Panel had the opportunity to see the team at play for the first time and despite the 4-1 loss to the USA, were pleased with the opportunity for West Indies Women’s Under 19 players to get international match experience and for the Panel to better understand the talent within the group. This team is historical, as it is the first ever West Indies Under-19 Women's team.
CWI’s Lead Selector for Women’s cricket, Ann Browne-John said: “The Rising Stars Under 19 tournament saw a welcome return to competition for young women in the region. Following the tournament, these twenty-two (22) players have been shortlisted to prepare for the World Cup in January in South Africa, as well as some additional preparation matches. After the long pandemic disruption, it was refreshing for the selectors to see some new talent which augers well for future development. This pool, apart from World Cup participation, can also serve as a feeder for the senior team. It contains a great mix of players both right and left-handed and a variety of up-and-coming bowlers.”
The Rising Stars age-group tournaments within CWI’s Future Stars programme play a crucial role in the growth and development of the next generation of cricketers in the region. These tournaments are a key component in the system for identifying the West Indies U19 Men’s and Women’s teams. This provides the best opportunity for our most talented players to thrive and develop further with the goal of ultimately feeding into the West Indies Senior Men’s and Women’s teams.
One of the players shortlisted is opening right-handed batter and captain of Trinidad and Tobago women’s U19 team, Shalini Samaroo. Samaroo was part of the squad to play in the five-match T20I Series in Florida and she emerged as the Player of the Series. Speaking to CWI Media, Samaroo said, “It was a dream come through to be selected to play for the West Indies, because it was one of my goals as a cricketer to be able to wear the Maroon colours.”
Samaroo added, “It was a learning experience for me, new coaches, new teammates, understanding different personalities and abilities. I am happy that we got to play in the Rising Stars tournament again after the delay due to COVID-19. We have all been working hard on our games waiting for this tournament to put our skills on show to the selectors and coaches and I am happy that I was one of the twenty-two to be selected as the best Under-19 women cricketers in the region.”
The West Indies Rising Stars Women’s Under 19 team are due to have a training camp and trial matches in Trinidad in October, before playing an away series against India in November as part of the preparation plans for the ICC Women’s U19 World Cup South Africa in January 2023.
PROVISIONAL WEST INDIES WOMEN’S U19 PLAYER POOL
Kyle Myers intends to come good with the bat to spur the Barbados Royals to their third title when the 2022 Hero CPL final gets underway at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Friday night.
Jamaica Reggae Boyz goalkeeper Andre Blake admits to enjoying the encounter against top team Argentina and football great Lionel Messi, despite coming away on the other side of a 3-0 defeat.
After starting the game on the bench, Messi's introduction blew things wide open for La Albiceleste who had already taken a 1-0 lead in the first half courtesy of Julian Alvarez’s 13th-minute strike.
With only 10-minutes to go the Jamaicans seemed set to end their third straight encounter against the South Americans within a one-goal margin, but Messi had other ideas.
Blake initially foiled Messi twice but could not do much against the Paris Saint Germain midfielder’s blast from the top of the area in the 86th minute or his crafty free-kick three minutes later.
It’s a world-class team that’s the easiest way to put it. It’s a different ballgame. The quality of play and the speed of play, everything is a different level. But I enjoyed every moment of it, and it was a great experience,” Blake told the Philadelphia Enquirer.
“He’s the best in the world,” Blake said in his assessment of Messi.
“I wish I was able to make those saves, but world-class players do world-class things. … it was definitely an honour and a moment I’ll cherish forever — not the moment that he scored, but being able to play against him and save a few of his shots.”
Dinthill Technical hammered Ewarton 10-0 at home to maintain their perfect run in the ISSA/Digicel daCosta Cup on Wednesday.
Dinthill now have six wins from six games and lead Zone K with 18 points, three more than Charlemont who secured their own home win, 3-1 over Enid Bennett. McGrath are third on 12 points thanks to a 5-1 win over Guys Hill at Tacky High.
Paul Bogle High joined Dinthill in the unbeaten club thanks to a massive 12-0 hammering of Robert Lightbourne at home. They also have a perfect 18 points from six outings in Zone L. Yallahs are a distant second on 10 points after a 1-1 home draw with Seaforth while St. Thomas Tech and Morant Bay played out a 2-2 draw at the Eastern Banana Complex.
STETHS have played one less match than Dinthill and Paul Bogle but also have a 100% record in Zone E after a 2-0 win over Lacovia at Lacovia. Munro College are second on 10 points but lost ground on the leaders after suffering an 0-1 defeat at the hands of B.B Coke. Sydney Pagon lost 1-2 to Maggotty at home in Zone E’s other clash.
Manning’s got their fifth win in as many games, a 3-1 home win over Grange Hill, to remain at the top of Zone D. Petersfield, second with 10 points, played out a 0-0 draw with Belmont Academy while, on Tuesday, Godfrey Stewart beat Black River 1-0 at home.
Manchester leads Zone F with 10 points from four games after a 2-2 draw with DeCarteret College at DeCarteret. Bellefield made up ground and now only trail Manchester by three points after a 3-0 win over May Day at home while Belair are third with six points after a 3-0 win over Mt. St. Joseph at home.
Zone B saw Merlene Ottey suffer a 1-3 home loss to Green Island. On Tuesday, Frome secured a 3-0 over previously unbeaten Rusea’s to take over top spot with nine points from three games and a goal difference 19, six more than Rusea’s who also have nine points.
Browns Town beat Ocho Rios 2-0 in the lone Zone I fixture on Wednesday.
Tacky High took over top spot in Zone J with a 3-1 win over St. Mary High at the Highgate Community Centre to move to 11 points from five games, three more than Horace Clarke who have played one game less. Annotto Bay and St. Mary Tech played out a 2-2 draw at Westmoreland Oval in the other Zone J game.
In other Tuesday results, Irwin beat Cornwall College 2-1 to move to four wins from four games to lead Zone A ahead of Green Pond, who now have seven points from four matches after a 1-1 draw over St. James. Maldon beat Anchovy 4-1 in the other Zone A game. Cornwall currently sit third with six points from their four encounters.
William Knibb maintained their perfect record in Zone C with a comprehensive 10-0 over Herbert Morrison to move to nine points from three games. Joining them with nine points from three games was Cedric Titus who beat Spot Valley 2-1.
Rovman Powell said it would mean the world to him should he lead the Jamaica Tallawahs to the 2022 Hero CPL title when they take on the Barbados Royals in the finals at Providence, Guyana on Friday night.
Jamaica Tallawahs batsman Shamarh Brooks has hailed the influence of his teammates after smashing a crucial, maiden, T20 century against the Guyana Amazon Warriors, in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on Wednesday.
In the must-win encounter, Brooks both treated and horrified home fans with some spectacular stroke-play, which underpinned the Jamaica franchise’s sizeable innings score of 226 for 4. Personally, the batsman piled on an unbeaten 109 off 52 balls his best-ever return for the format.
The total, which included 7 fours and 8 sixes was instrumental in the team’s win as they later managed to restrict the Warriors to 189, which sealed the Jamaica franchise's return to the final for the first time in four years.
“I had lunch with Brandon King and he was very upset with the way I got out in the last innings, on 47. So, he told me I needed to take it all the way down regardless of what I think, that’s what I did and it paid off,” Brooks said.
“Imad Wasim coming in at the end, the partnership with Ravi, Raymond as well, the guys just kept telling me to keep working it, just keep playing cricket shots and as we always say in the dressing room to keep making love to the cricket ball.”
The Tallawahs will face the Barbados Royals in Friday's final.
Mona High maintained their perfect start to the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup with a 3-1 victory over Wolmer’s Boys at Stadium East on Wednesday.
Mona, after beating the previously undefeated Wolmer’s, now have 15 points from five games and boast an impressive goal difference of 28 having scored 33 goals and conceded just five.
Earlier at Stadium East on Wednesday, Camperdown and Hydel played out a 1-1 draw. Hydel and Camperdown now sit third and fourth in Group E with seven and five points, respectively.
The other Group E fixture saw Kingston High beat Papine 2-1 at home for their first win in five tries.
Jamaica College moved to the top of Group B on goal difference with a 4-0 win over St. Jago at Jamaica College. The 30-time champions now have 10 points, the same amount as St. Catherine High who got a 6-0 win at Cedar Grove. JC has a goal difference of 19 while St. Catherine has a goal difference of 10.
Holy Trinity beat St. Mary’s College 5-1 at Bell Chung Oval in the other Group B encounter.
STATHS are now in a dominant position in Group D after a 6-0 win over Tarrant moved them up to 13 points from five games, six more than second placed Jonathan Grant, who secured a 2-1 win over Norman Manley at Maxfield Park. Dunoon got a 2-1 win over Spanish Town at Excelsior in the other Group D fixture.
The Jamaica Tallawahs will contest the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) final following a 37-run victory over the Guyana Amazon Warriors in Qualifier 2 on Wednesday night.
The Amazon Warriors won the toss and opted to field first and that seemed to be an excellent decision after they reduced the Tallawahs to 37-2 in the PowerPlay.
However, Shamarh Brooks produced one of the all-time great Hero CPL innings to guide the Tallawahs to a season-high 226-4. His unbeaten 109 came off 52 balls and along with Imad Wasim, the pair plundered 103 runs from the final five overs to take the game away from the Amazon Warriors.
The chase was always going to be hard for the Amazon Warriors, so it proved. Despite losing Mohammad Amir to injury the Tallawahs bowling unit produced a controlled performance that kept the Amazon Warriors in check throughout.
Although Keemo Paul produced a good innings of 54 from 37 balls, no one else was able to stay with him to pull off an unlikely heist.
Earlier, the Amazon Warriors had seemed to be in control of the game when Raymon Reifer was dismissed for 22 to leave the Tallawahs 123-4 with five overs to go. However, Brooks and Wasim launched an unbelievable assault at the back end.
Brooks hit a maiden T20 century whilst Wasim made an unbeaten 41 off 15 balls to secure the Tallawahs a place in the Hero CPL final.
If the Amazon Warriors were to chase the 227 to win, they needed a lightning start in the PowerPlay and they got that by putting up 62 runs. However, they lost three wickets in the process thereby handing the Tallawahs an advantage going forward.
Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals as the Tallawahs bowlers put the squeeze on the Amazon Warriors. Imad Wasim was the star turn leading the bowling unit with 2-25 in the absence of Amir.
The Tallawahs victory means they will now contest their third Hero CPL final and both themselves and the Barbados Royals will be looking to secure their third Hero CPL title.
Scores: Jamaica Tallawahs 226-4 (Brooks 109*, Wasim 41*; Shepherd 2-43, Tahir 1-34) beat Guyana Amazon Warriors 189-8 (Paul 56, Hope 31; Wasim 2-25, Green 2-40) by 37 runs
West Indies Women secured a thrilling one-run victory over New Zealand Women in the first T20 International at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
The Windies lost the toss and batted first, posting 115-9 off their 20 overs thanks to 49 from Aaliyah Alleyne. Amelia Kerr starred with 3-16 for New Zealand.
Then, despite a fighting 27 not out from Hannah Rowe, New Zealand fell agonizingly short of their target reaching 114-9 off their 20 overs. Chinelle Henry led the way with the ball with 3-26 from her four overs.
Player of the Match Chinelle Henry said, “The coaches told us to go out there and be fearless. We wanted more than 115 but that didn’t happen, so we went out there as a bowling unit to get the job done. Going into the second game, we’re obviously looking to improve in both batting and bowling. To see Aaliyah going out at number three and almost getting her maiden T20I half-century showed that we have a lot of depth in the squad, so it’s just for us to keep up that team performance.”
Both teams meet on the weekend for the 2nd and 3rd T20Is, Saturday October 1 at 10:00am and Sunday October 2 at 1:00pm.
Jamaica Tallawahs captain Ravmon Powell insists the team must continue to target improvement ahead of a crucial match-up against the Guyana Amazon Warriors on Wednesday.
Mohammad Nabi slammed a crucial 31 and then took 3 for 10 as the Tallawahs secured a 33-run win over the St Lucia Kings, despite getting off to a slow start.
On Wednesday, the Tallawahs will look to add to that achievement when they face off against the hosts for a place in the final. The two-time champions have not reached the final in four seasons but Powell believes that could be set to change.
“We are ready, we are expecting a full house but we won’t pay any attention to that,” Powell said after the team’s win on Wednesday.
“We are not focused on that, all the guys need to do is to keep on improving. We need to keep improving batting in the first ten overs and I think if we do that we will be on our way.”
The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Women’s Selection Panel has announced the 13-member squad for the first and second T20 Internationals (T20Is) against New Zealand Women to be played on Wednesday 28 September and Saturday 1 October at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Sheneta Grimmond returns to the West Indies Women’s squad since last playing against South Africa Women in September 2021. The right-arm off-spinner comes into the squad to replace all-rounder Stafanie Taylor, who is ruled out of the first two T20I matches after retiring hurt in the third and final CG United ODI on Sunday 25 September. Grimmond had an impressive showing in the 6ixty and Massy Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) with her team, the Trinbago Knight Riders, taking four wickets in the 6ixty and three wickets in the WCPL.
Lead Selector for Women’s Selection Panel, Ann Browne-John said: “In the CG United ODI series, there were some very promising performances. The victory in the final match showed a lot of grit and determination. Aaliyah Alleyne, who was included for the final match, shone both with bat and ball.”
Browne-John added: “The Panel is now able to build on this as we continue to develop players. This five match series forms part of the team’s preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Unfortunately, Stafanie Taylor has been ruled out of these two matches after being injured while batting in the third CG United ODI. This squad for the 1st and 2nd T20I sees the return of off-spinner Sheneta Grimmond who had a good WCPL performance, and we believe her off-spin will provide added support to the other off-spinners, Hayley Matthews and Karishma Ramharack.”
This five-match series serves as vital preparation for both teams in the leadup to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa from 9 to 26 February 2023.
West Indies squad for 1st and 2nd T20Is
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