As hurricane Beryl continues to wreak havoc across the Caribbean, the West Indies Under-19 men’s and women’s Rising Stars tournaments have been placed on hold as host nations Trinidad and Tobago and St Vincent and the Grenadines suffered blows from the category four system.

Both tournaments are scheduled to start on Tuesday, but given the effects of Beryl, organisers were forced to shelf previous plans as they continue to assess the situation where travels and other logistical issues are concerned.

In fact, CWI vice president Azim Bassarath highlighted the uncertainty surrounding the tournament.

“Nothing as yet. We don’t know what is the situation with flights coming out of the different islands after Beryl. So, it (the tournament) is on hold until everything returns to normalcy,” he told T&T Newsday.

Jamaica won both Under-19 men's title last year.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Under-19 men’s team were set to depart their shores for St Vincent on Sunday. However, flights were cancelled throughout the Caribbean.

Up to late Monday, Trinidad and Tobago’s manager Kerwin John pointed out that they did not get any word from CWI on the tournament’s status.

“We are still at home. We have not travelled to St Vincent as yet, as the flight yesterday (Sunday) was cancelled from T&T to Barbados and Barbados to St Vincent. We are waiting on the cricket board to say when is that rescheduled flight,” John stated.

St Vincent and the Grenadines’ National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) reported significant damage to properties on Monday, with Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves revealing that the islands are still under a tropical storm warning.

“We have begun to receive heartbreaking reports out of the Union Island and the southern Grenadines, even as our agencies desperately attempt to re-establish communications with certain sections and ascertain the extent of the damage to the mainland,” the Prime Minister shared in a social media post.

T&T Under-19 women's team.

Meanwhile, Nadra Dwarika-Baptiste, manager of Trinidad and Tobago’s Under-19 women’s team said they were expected to get an update soon.

Barbados and Windward Island women’s teams are already in the twin island republic as they recently engaged the host in a tri-series in preparation for the CWI tournament.

 “I know the teams are represented but I can’t say if everyone is here. We haven’t been in a setting to see if everyone is present. We have not gotten anything yet, but we do expect some meetings by this afternoon,” she said in an interview T&T Newsday.

Jamaica, Leeward Islands, and Guyana are the other teams for the women’s tournament that was initially scheduled for July 2-July 13.

The men’s competition also has six teams down to vie for the three-day, and 50-over titles.

Jamaica’s men’s under-19 team won both titles last year.

Jamaica, Barbados and the Windward Islands all got wins in round one of the 2023 CWI Rising Stars Men’s Under-19 50-over Championship in St. Vincent on Tuesday.

Jamaica were the most dominant team on the day, securing an eight-wicket win over Guyana at the Cumberland Playing Field.

In a game reduced to 30 overs-per side after a rain delay, the Guyanese were first skittled out for just 78 in 23.4 overs.

Michael Clarke led the Jamaicans with the ball with 3-13 from four overs while Reon Edwards took 3-18 from 4.4 overs. Deshawn James and Tamarie Redwood also took a pair of wickets, each.

Jamaica, then, needed just 14.5 overs to reach their target. Jordan Johnson finished 28* while Adrian Weir earlier made 19.

At the Sion Hill playing field, a match reduced to 39-overs per side saw defending champions Barbados beat Trinidad & Tobago by 37 runs.

Barbados posted 152 all out from their 39 overs batting first thanks to a top score of 35 from Nathan Sealy and solid contributions from Isaiah Folkes (25*) and Joshua Dorne (24).

Andrew Rambaran took 3-20 from his eight overs for T&T while Jacen Agard took 3-41 from seven.

Barbados then produced an excellent bowling display to reduce their opponents to 115 all out from 34 overs.

Rajeev Ramnath made a fighting 35 for T&T as pacers Renecio Smith and Dre Springer took seven wickets from 10 overs between them. Smith took 4-24 while Springer took 3-36.

The Windward Islands secured a 42-run win over the Leeward Islands at Arnos Vale in the day’s other game.

The Windwards posted 200-8 from their 50 overs batting first thanks to 35 from Tarrique Edward and 32 from Ackeem Auguste. Kimani Nisbett took 3-27 from six overs for the Leewards.

Then, despite contributions from Michael Palmer (31), Jewel Andrew (31) and Michael Greaves (28), the Leewards were dismissed for 158 in 45.4 overs.

Tarrique Edward completed a fine all-round effort with 3-23 from 10 overs for the Windwards.