The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) and long-time youth cricket sponsor Kingston Wharves have teamed up to award two deserving Under-19 cricketers full scholarships for their tertiary education at the University of the West Indies (UWI). The scholarships were recently presented at the JCA office at Sabina Park in Kingston.
The JCA highlighted the spectacular success of the Under-19 team, led by captain Brian Barnes and Steven Wedderburn. The team captured both regional championship trophies available in 2023. The idea for the scholarships arose from a desire to properly reward these talented cricketers while supporting their educational goals, ensuring they could continue playing the game at a high level.
JCA President Dr. Donovan Bennett welcomed the partnership with Kingston Wharves in awarding the scholarships. "We are very grateful at the JCA that Kingston Wharves has made this offer. It allows cricketers who have also excelled academically to be recognized and supported, helping them to enhance their life skills," he said.
Dr. Bennett also spoke about the process of determining the scholarship winners. "We had a joint committee with participation from both Kingston Wharves and the JCA. We invited applications, and after a thorough assessment process, the committee made the final recommendations."
The two awardees, Barnes and Wedderburn, along with their family members and coaches, were thrilled to receive the scholarships.
"I feel elated and honoured," said Barnes. "I'm just happy that both of us are being recognized with this scholarship."
Wedderburn echoed similar sentiments, stating, "I feel pretty elated because this is an honor. It's a result of hard work and dedication, and I feel great about receiving this award."
Kingston Wharves, the financial backer of the scholarships, was represented by Business Development Manager Alfred McDonald, who spoke about the company's commitment to supporting student-athletes. "We are focused on ensuring that those playing the sport are also excelling academically. We've seen their journey, and we want to support it. By providing funds—around $300,000 to $500,000 per annum for each of them—we believe this assistance will propel them to do their best both on the field and in school," McDonald said.
Simone Murdock, Corporate Services and Client Experience Manager at Kingston Wharves, who sat on the scholarship selection committee, expressed the company’s satisfaction with the selection process and the quality of the two recipients. "Our commitment is to see these young men through to the completion of their degrees. At that time, the company will reassess, as there might be greater needs in three years. For now, our focus is on helping them complete their degree program, and we will evaluate what further support is needed for cricket development afterward," Murdock said.
Barnes and Wedderburn will be pursuing marketing degrees at UWI, a program expected to last four years.
Regional youth cricket has long been a pathway for a number of young cricketers to make the transition to the senior ranks.
While developing the cricketing skills of the region’s young players is paramount, their development off the field is equally as important.
The latest initiative from the Jamaica Cricket Association is further emphasis of that fact.
To honour last year’s successful Jamaica under-19 double champions, the association, along with long-time partners Kingston Wharves Limited, handed out tertiary scholarship grants to two crucial members of the team, Brian Barnes and Steven Wedderburn.
Barnes, a left-handed top order batsman, was the team’s captain, a role he returned to in 2024.
Wedderburn, also a southpaw, was one of the top scorers during last year’s regional tournament and went on to represent the West Indies at the ICC Under-19 World Cup in South Africa from January 19-February 11 this year.
The pair was chosen from a shortlist of five under-19 players, following the application process, which required the cricketers to be accepted at a recognised tertiary institution.
The four-year scholarship grant will see Barnes and Wedderburn studying marketing at the University of the West Indies.
The West Indies got their third win in a row with a tense three-wicket win over Sri Lanka to open their Super Six campaign at the ICC Under-19 World Cup in South Africa on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka first posted 231 from their 50 overs after winning the toss and choosing to bat first at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley.
Dinura Kalupahana made 53 from 83 balls to lead the Sri Lankan batting effort while Malsha Tharupathi made 42 off 38 and Supun Waduge 31 off 40 to provide good support.
Raneico Smith took 4-47 from his 10 overs to lead the West Indian bowling effort while Nathan Edward took 2-47 from his nine overs. Nathan Sealy and Tarrique Edward took a wicket each.
The West Indies then completed a tense chase, reaching 232-7 from 49.3 overs.
Steven Wedderburn, playing only his second match of the tournament, led the way with a 71-ball 61 at the top of the order. His knock included five fours and three sixes.
He was well supported by Jordan Johnson who made 39 off 46 balls including four fours. Captain Stephan Pascal made a swift 26-ball 33 including five fours and a six.
The West Indies were cruising at 147-2 in the 27th over before Wedderburn and Johnson fell in successive overs to leave the West indies 149-4 in the 28th over.
The subsequent wickets of Mavendra Dindyal (17), Nathan Edward (13) and Jewel Andrew (11) left the West Indies in a tricky position at 206-7 in the 46th over before a match-winning 26-run eighth wicket partnership between Nathan Sealy and Tarrique Edward.
Sealy finished 27* off 28 balls while Edward finished 11* off 13 balls.
Vishwa Lahiru took 2-32 from his 10 overs for Sri Lanka while Dinura Kalupahana and Sineth Jayawardena also took a pair of wickets, each.
The West Indies are now second in Group two of the Super Six with four points, the same as Australia who play England tomorrow. The Caribbean side will play Australia in their final Super Six game on Friday.
The top two teams in the group will advance to the semi-finals.
A magnificent 130 from 17-year-old Antiguan wicketkeeper/batsman Jewel Andrew was not enough as the West Indies Under-19s opened their 2024 World Cup campaign with a 31-run loss to hosts South Africa in the opening game of the tournament at Sewnes Park in Potchefstroom on Friday.
The hosts recovered from a tough position to post 285-9 from their 50 overs after being put in to bat by the 2016 champions.
At one point, South Africa found themselves 145-6 in the 35th over before a brilliant 130-run seventh wicket partnership between Dewan Marais and Captain Juan James.
Marais hit four fours and four sixes on his way to a top score of 65 off just 38 balls while James his three fours and one six for his 47 off 54 balls.
Earlier, David Teeger did his best to provide some stability to the innings with a patient 98-ball 44 batting at three while opener Lhuan-dre Pretorius made a 34-ball 40.
West Indies Vice-Captain Nathan Sealy was impressive with his left arm spin with 3-34 from his 10 overs while pacers Deshawn James and Nathan Edward took a pair of wickets each.
The West Indian reply then got off to the worst possible start when, off the second ball of the innings, Adrian Weir was wrongly adjudged out leg before wicket off the bowling of Kwena Maphaka for a duck.
That was the start of a horrendous first powerplay for the tourists with Captain Stephan Pascal (6), Joshua Dorne (9), Jordan Johnson (21) and Steven Wedderburn (12) all falling in quick succession.
With the West Indies 73-5, Nathan Sealy and Jewel Andrew were brought together and the pair put together a brilliant 117-run sixth wicket partnership to put victory well within reach for the Caribbean side.
The partnership came to an end in the 29th over when Sealy was brilliantly run out by Oliver Whitehead for a crucial 33 off 55 balls.
Shortly after Sealy’s dismissal, Andrew brought up a magnificent hundred off just 71 balls including 11 fours and three sixes.
With the West Indies comfortable, needing 61 from 90 balls with four wickets in hand, the game changed once again thanks to a brilliant piece of wicketkeeping from Ntando Zuma to stump Tarrique Edward for 13 off the bowling of David Teeger.
The West Indies fightback all but ended off consecutive deliveries in the 39th and 40th overs.
First, Maphaka picked up his fourth wicket of the innings with an excellent Yorker to dismiss Nathan Edward for 12 before Andrew’s innings finally came to an end off the bowling of Riley Norton at the start of the very next over with the West Indies needing a further 36 for victory.
Andrew made a brilliant 130 off just 96 balls including 14 fours and three sixes.
Maphaka ended proceedings with his fifth wicket, removing Isai Thorne for two to dismiss the West Indies for 254 off 40.1 overs.
Scores: South Africa Under-19s 285-9 off 50 overs (Dewan Marais 65, Juan James 47, David Teeger 44, Lhuan-de Pretorius 40, Nathan Sealy 3-34, Deshawn James 2-38, Nathan Edward 2-63)
West Indies Under-19s 254 off 40.1 overs (Jewel Andrew 130, Nathan Sealy 33, Jordan Johnson 21, Kwena Maphaka 5-38, Riley Norton 3-66)
The West Indies Under-19s comfortably defeated New Zealand by six wickets on Sunday at the Braam Fisherville Sports Complex in Johannesburg in their opening warm-up game ahead of the ICC Under-19 World Cup beginning on January 19.
Vice-Captain Nathan Sealy starred with the ball with 4-21 from nine overs to help the men in maroon restrict New Zealand to 131 all out in just 39.2 overs.
They then needed just 24.5 overs to reach 132-4 thanks to an unbeaten 58-run match-winning partnership between Joshua Dorne and wicket-keeper Jewel Andrew.
Dorne ended up 45* off 66 balls including three fours while Andrew finished 36* off just 24 balls, hitting one four and three sixes.
Jordan Johnson (14) and Steven Wedderburn (10) also chipped in for the Windies.
New Zealand Captain Oscar Jackson took 2-14 from three overs.
The West Indies will take on Nepal in their next warm-up match on Tuesday.
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
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