ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd, right-arm quick Kelvin Pitman and all-rounder Kevin Wickham are all set to make their first-class debuts after being named in the squads for the opening two rounds of the Regional Four-Day Championship.
Nedd, an experienced campaigner in the white-ball format with 17 List A caps, will play for his native Guyana Harpy Eagles while Pitman, who has played a single List A match, is part of a provisional unit for Hurricanes in the Leeward Islands.
19-year-old Wickham, meanwhile, will be hoping to build on the six List A caps already under his belt after being called up by his native Barbados Pride.
The trio are among the five West Indies Academy products who have been called up by the franchises for the start of the tour on January 31. The other two players – batsmen Teddy Bishop and Kirk McKenzie – have already played first-class cricket and have been named in the Windward Islands Volcanoes and Jamaica Scorpions squads respectively.
Graeme West, Cricket West Indies’ high performance manager, pointed to the development as a sign of the academy’s effectiveness.
“It’s really good to see players getting selected to take part in the West Indies Championship. This shows that the investment CWI has made in developing these young players is paying off,” said West.
“The West Indies Academy played in the CG United Super50 last November, some players were also selected in the CPL earlier in the year, and that was great exposure in the white-ball formats.
“Now, with the first two rounds of the West Indies Championship ahead of us, we have players selected for the red ball format and we hope to see more graduates later in the tournament as well.”
The first two rounds will be played in Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada. The Volcanoes host the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at the Grenada National Stadium starting next Tuesday while in Antigua, the defending champions Pride take on the Harpy Eagles at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, bowling the next day.
In the other first round match, the Hurricanes take on the Scorpions at the Coolidge Cricket Ground also starting on Wednesday.
The tournament will consist of five rounds, after which the newly conceived Headley Weeks Series will take place on April 19 in Antigua, featuring Team Headley and Team Weekes and the West Indies Academy.
West said the increased competition offered further opportunities for player development.
“As well as playing in the four-day tournament, we also have the opportunity to play in the Headley Weeks Tri-Series in April and May, another major investment in player development by CWI,” continued the Englishman.
“This is an amazing opportunity for these young players to compare skills with some of the best in the region and we see this as the right kind of platform at this stage in their development.
“They fitted in very well in the 50-over format last year in the CG United Super50 Cup and we anticipate more growth and eye-catching performances when they match up in the red ball format as well.”
