St. John’s, Antigua, August 17 – (www.barbadoscricket.org) – Four Barbadians are in a 26-member squad to continue preparations for the West Indies Rising Stars Under-19s tour of England next month.
The four are batsmen Rivaldo Clarke and Shaqkere Parris, all-rounder Giovonte Depeiza and fast bowler Johann Layne.
The squad was selected following targeted coaching sessions and an eight-match trial series in Antigua. The players will now continue training and planning sessions with a final 18-member squad for the tour to England to be named at a later date.
Clarke was the most outstanding batsman in the trials with exactly 300 runs including two centuries and one half-century, at an average of 75. His Strike Rate was 100.67.
All told, there were 11 Barbadians at the trials. The others were Nimar Bolden, Romario Brathwaite, Achilles Browne, Kamario Grant, Tariq O’Neale, Kwame Patton and Hakeem Perryman.
“The screening trials went very well. We saw some excellent performances and it was not easy to cut down the large number of such talented young players,” said head coach Floyd Reifer.
“You could see the enthusiasm was high in all the players, and the spirit was high in all the teams. We have to do everything we can to encourage all of the players who came, to continue working on their game. A more intensive camp has started where we will push forward to improve the skill set, the mind-set, and the tactical awareness of the 26 players, before cutting the squad further. More will go into the tactical sessions as we work towards the tour of England and onto the ICC Under-19 World Cup. We will also promote the West Indian brand of cricket that we want to play going into that World Cup, without neglecting the fundamentals.”
The West Indies fundamentals Rising Stars Under-19 tour of England will feature six Youth One-Day Internationals at The County Ground, Beckenham and The Polo Farm, Canterbury from Saturday, September 4 to Friday, September 17. The West Indies Rising Stars Under-19s High Performance Camp is a key part of Cricket West Indies investment in developing and preparing the players for the ICC Under-19 World Cup to be played in the West Indies early next year (January 4 to February 5; provisional dates).
Under-19 Rising Stars squad:
Onaje Amory Age: 17 (Leewards Islands; Right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin)
Anderson Amurdan Age: 18 (Leeward Islands; Right-hand opening bat)
Ackeem Auguste Age: 17 (Windward Islands; Left-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin)
Justin Beckford Age: 17 (Jamaica; Right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin)
Teddy Bishop Age: 18 (Windward Islands; Right-hand opening bat)
Carlon Bowen-Tuckett Age: 17 (Leeward Islands; Right-hand bat/wicket-keeper)
Jaden Carmichael Age: 18 (Leeward Islands; Right-hand bat/left-arm spin)
McKenny Clarke Age: 18 (Windward Islands; Right-hand bat/right-arm fast)
Rivaldo Clarke Age: 18 (Barbados; Right-hand bat/wicket-keeper)
Amrit Dass Age: 18 (Trinidad & Tobago; Right-hand bat/left-arm chinaman)
Giovonte Depeiza Age: 18 (Barbados; Right-hand bat/left-arm spin)
Nathan Edwards Age: 16 (Leeward Islands; Left-hand bat/left-arm fast-medium)
Andel Gordon Age: 18 (Jamaica; Right-hand bat/left-arm medium-pace)
Sion Hackett Age: 18 (Trinidad & Tobago; Right-hand bat/right-arm medium-fast)
Justin Jaggesar Age: 16 (Trinidad & Tobago; Right-hand bat)
Jordan Johnson Age: 16 (Jamaica; Left-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin)
Kyle Kissoondath Age: 17 (Trinidad & Tobago; Right-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin)
Johann Layne Age: 17 (Barbados; Right-hand bat/right-arm fast-medium)
Nicholas Lewin Age: 18 (Jamaica; Right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin)
Anderson Mahase Age: 18 (Trinidad & Tobago; Left-hand bat/left-arm spin)
Matthew Nandu Age: 18 (Guyana; Right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin)
Shaqkere Parris Age: 18 (Barbados; Right-hand bat/wicket-keeper)
Kelvin Pittman Age: 18 (Leeward Islands; Right-hand bat/right-arm fast-medium)
Isai Thorne Age: 16 (Guyana; Right-hand bat/right-arm fast)
Shiva Sankar Age: 18 (Trinidad & Tobago; Right-hand bat/right-arm medium-fast)
Vasant Singh Age: 17 (Trinidad & Tobago; Right-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin