Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced the squad for the West Indies Rising Stars Under 19s High-Performance camp being hosted at Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) in Antigua. This is the first activity to bring together the best Under 19s talent in the region and build towards the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup in 2024.
The squad of 29 includes two players who were part of the West Indies Rising Stars Under 19s squad at the 2022 ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup which was hosted in the Caribbean: left-handed batter Jordan Johnson, and right-arm fast bowler Isai Thorne. A third squad member, top-order batter Justin Jaggessar played two Youth ODIs on the West Indies Rising Stars tour of England in September 2021, but did not play in the World Cup.
Nathan Edward, a left-handed bowling allrounder, was originally selected in the squad but is currently representing St. Maarten in the Leeward Islands Senior Men’s Tournament being played in St Kitts. He will be available for future Rising Stars camps and tournaments.
The players were selected based on performances during the Rising Stars age-group tournaments in 2022. Later in the year, CWI will host the 2023 regional age-group Rising Stars presenting the opportunity for other players to compete for selection into the squad ahead of the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup.
The Rising Stars Under 19s High-Performance camp will feature targeted coaching sessions and physical preparations as well as sessions geared towards their off-field development. The camp started on 21 February and will run to 9 March. It will feature 50-over matches at the CCG on 25 February; 1, 5 and 8 March.
Robert Haynes, Lead Selector for the Men’s Youth Selection Panel said:
“This camp is all about the importance of the development of West Indies cricket and this is laying the foundation for the future of our game in the region. This is not just about playing in the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup next year, but also about developing the overall player on and off the field. We have some very talented players in this group and we know they will do very well. We still have the age-group tournaments later this year where more players can put in performances and earn selection.”
Rohan Nurse, has been named as CWI’s new Talent Pathway Manager. As part of his role, he will design and lead the programme for the players’ preparations leading up to the next ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup scheduled to be played in the Sri Lanka in early 2024.
The former Assistant Coach of the West Indies Rising Stars Under 19s will lead the day-to-day management of the development squad as part of his wider high-performance role managing our best young talent across the region.
During the camp he will be joined by Assistant Coaches Nikita Miller and Rohan Clarke; Nick Wilton, specialist wicket-keeping coach; Graeme West, CWI’s High-Performance Manager; Chris Brabazon, CWI’s Coach Development Manager; and Steve Liburd, West Indies Women’s Under 19 Head Coach.
FULL SQUAD
Jacen Agard
Jewel Andrew
Brian Barnes
Solomon Bascombe
Golcharan Chulai
Mavindra Dindyal
Joshua Dorne
Tarrique Edward
Reon Edwards
Justin Jaggessar
Deshawn James
Orlando James
Jordan Johnson
Devonie Joseph
Jaden Lorde
Micah McKenzie
Joshua Morris
Stephan Pascal
Jatario Prescod
Andrew Rambaran
Rampertab Ramnauth
Tamarie Redwood
Nathan Sealy
Isai Thorne
Devin Tyson
Yanique Watley
Steven Wedderburn
Adrian Weir
Trevaun Williams