Five Barbadians among 15 CWI Emerging Players Academy intake
St. John’s, Antigua, July 1 – (www.barbadoscricket.org) – Five Barbadians are among the initial intake of 15 selectees for the CWI Emerging Players Academy, announced today by Cricket West Indies (CWI).
The five are batter Kevin Wickham, fast bowling all-rounder Nyeem Young, pacers Ramon Simmonds and Johann Layne and left-arm spinner Joshua Bishop.
Wickham and Layne represented West Indies Rising Stars Under-19s at the ICC Youth World Cup in the Caribbean earlier this year with Wickham scoring a century.
Another Barbadian, left-arm spinner Camarie Boyce, is among six reserves.
The group will start work at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG), Antigua from July 1 for high-performance training and development sessions.
Jimmy Adams, CWI’s Director of Cricket, welcomed the players.
“We want to offer a special welcome to the young men who have been selected to form the first cohort for the CWI Emerging Players programme. They are a talented group of players, who we are sure will enjoy the benefits of their hard work. CWI has been looking at ways of bridging that critical gap between our junior and professional levels and this Academy initiative provides us with a great start towards achieving this. This will also play an important role in building regional capacity within High-Performance player support – technical, physical, mental, and personal development,” Adams said.
The plan for a CWI Emerging Players Academy was first announced in March. It will function as a nexus between regional junior and senior teams while supporting the development of talented players between the ages of 19 and 25. The Academy will have five primary objectives:
- Building capacity of players, support staff and high-performance resources.
- Management of Talent.
- Personal Development – develop person first and then the player.
- Demonstrate Best Practice, including recruitment, selection and preparation.
- Accelerating Player Development and increasing readiness of players for international cricket.
The Selection Panel met and recommended the 15 players based on a formula, which included consultations with each of the six Territorial Boards. Six reserves have also been selected as cover for players who may be selected for their franchises for regional competitions.
The first Emerging Players camp has several objectives and the main focus during the initial period will be to ensure the management of talent; players’ personal development – especially creating a breeding ground for leaders in the game; accelerating development – reinforcing the importance of knowledge on the physical components; as well as increasing the readiness of the players for the international stage – with a focus on specific skill sets identified by the Head Coach of the Senior Team.
Nyeem Young expressed his eagerness and readiness. He said: “This is a massive opportunity for myself and all the other players involved. I can’t wait to get to Antigua to get started and get involved. Being a player who has come through the West Indies Rising Stars U19 system and being at the senior white ball camp a few months back, this is a chance to further my skills. This will benefit all of us as we look to the future and I believe the camp will also help to build camaraderie.”
FULL SQUAD
Kevlon Anderson
Ackeem Auguste
Joshua Bishop
Teddy Bishop
McKenny Clarke
Joshua James
Leonardo Julien
Johann Layne
Kirk McKenzie
Ashmead Nedd
Kelvin Pitman
Keagan Simmons
Ramon Simmonds
Kevin Wickham
Nyeem Young
Reserves
Anderson Amurdan
Brad Barnes
Camarie Boyce
Kirstan Kallicharan
Shaaron Lewis
Kimani Melius