SPORTS
Newsday reporter
FOUR Trinidad and Tobago cricketers have been selected in an 18-man West Indies U-19 squad for the upcoming tour of England.
Sion Hackett, Justin Jagessar, Anderson Mahase and Vasant Singh are the four TT players involved.
A Cricket West Indies media release on Friday said, “The team will be led by Ackeem Auguste with Giovonte Depeiza as the vice-captain. Auguste is a top-order left-handed batsman while Depeiza is a left-handed middle-order batsman right and left arm spinner.
Robert Haynes, chief selector of the U-19 Rising Stars, said the tournament will benefit the team as it prepares for the International Cricket Council U-19 World Cup next year.
“This trip to England is part of the build-up to the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup next year and will be a valuable experience for these youngsters,” said Haynes.
“We have a very good combination and it’s really nice to see that we have quality cricketers in the squad, which gives us more options. The conditions in England will be challenging, and they know that, but they have fantastic managerial support in the set-up, including Sir Curtly Ambrose, whose experience and knowledge will be an asset.”
The 18-man squad was selected after 60 players participated in the matches in Antigua.
Haynes said, “We started the selection process four weeks ago, with 60 very talented young people from across the region. It was not easy to cut the team. But if you look at the balance in the bowling attack that we have chosen now, with six fast bowlers and three specialist spinners, you can see that we have chosen a quality attack. We also have some talented batsmen who we expect to perform well. The work everyone has put in to get these guys here to this level has been outstanding.”
Rohan Nurse will lead the coaching staff on a caretaker basis, with Floyd Reifer unavailable due to prior contractual arrangements with the Caribbean Premier League.
The tournament will feature six youth one-day internationals at The County Ground, Beckenham and The Polo Farm, Canterbury from September 4-17.
The West Indies Rising Stars U-19 squad was selected after an eight-match trial series. From there, the squad was whittled down to 26 players, who were then put through more intensive training and simulation sessions aimed at high performance.
The 2022 U-19 Cricket World Cup will be held in the Caribbean from January 4 to February 3.
SQUAD: Ackeem Auguste (captain), Giovonte Depeiza (vice-captain), Onaje Amory, Anderson Amurdan, Justin Beckford, Teddy Bishop, Carlon Bowen-Tuckett, McKenny Clarke, Rivaldo Clarke, Nathan Edward, Andel Gordon, Justin Hacketsart, , Johann Layne , Anderson Mahase, Matthew Nandu, Isai Thorne, Vasant Singh
TEAM MANAGEMENT: Rohan Nurse (acting coach), Sir Curtly Ambrose (assistant coach), Steve Liburd (assistant coach), Junie Mitcham (manager), Avenesh Seetaram (analyst), Alex Forde (strength and conditioning coach) , Lyndon Knights (physiotherapist)
SCHEDULE OF MATCHES
September 4: 1st Youth ODI – Beckenham
September 6: 2nd Youth ODI – Beckenham
September 8: 3rd Youth ODI – Beckenham
September 10: 4th Youth ODI – Canterbury
September 14: 5th Youth ODI – Canterbury
September 17: 6th Youth ODI – Canterbury
