West Indies Under-19 training camp selectee Joshua Persaud has credited lifelong Coach Clive Grimmond as being responsible for his conversion from a budding spinner to one of the top young wicketkeeper/batsmen in Guyana.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has announced that a West Indies Under-19 team will compete in next month’s Regional Super50 Tournament and has named 20 players to participate in a training camp prior to the selection of the final squad of players.
Persaud and his teammate Bhaskar Yadram are the only Guyanese selected for the training camp which bowls off in Grenada on Friday and ends December 20.
The players will undergo physical assessment and other forms of preparation during the camp.During an interview with Stabroek Sport Monday, the young glove-man said that it was Grimmond who transformed him from a `wanna-be’ leg-spinner to the successful top-order, wicket-keeping/batsman he has become.“Coach Grimmond made me turn into a ‘keeper because, when I started playing cricket I used to bowl leg-spin and he told me I should start‘keeping.
That started since three years ago when I used to play for Gandhi Youth Organization [GYO] and since then, I’ve been putting in a lot of work training with the Academy especially with the ‘keeping part of the game because I think I need to improve.”
Persaud copped the two MVP awards for best wicketkeeper during the recent West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional U19 tournament won by Guyana and U17 tourney where Guyana placed second. Despite those performances he admitted to being shocked but happy when he got the news of his selection.
“I don’t think you can get a better feeling than to get called for a junior West Indies team.
I was out and someone from the West Indies Board called my grandmother and told her so when I got home I got the news and the feeling was good because it shows that my work in getting the MVP awards was finally paying off,” he said.
The right-hander said that immediately after his call-up, he began setting his sights on making the Guyana senior team ahead of next January’s Regional Super50 competition adding that he believes that a good showing during the two practice matches with the WI U19 team could ultimately strengthen his case.
“Since I got the call I started to think of the senior team and I think if I do well I could come back and probably get a place in the team for the Super50.
In the two practice games, my main goal is to make a century in either one or both of the games if I can and seal a place in the final 14.” Regarding his current form with the gloves, the Guyana youth opener said that he has been improving his skill with every match he plays.
He admitted that he is learning a lot from the likes of Dexter Solomon and West Indies U19 World Cup winning opener/wicket-keeper Tevin Imlach, who are also members of the Jaguars Academy.
“I have been learning a bit from Imlach and Solo (Solomon) and so far I’ve been seeing improvements cause recently in the games I played at the second division level, I’ve been keeping well.”The Chase Academy student said he wanted to thank family and friends for their support.
He also made special mention of his headmaster Sir Chase. “I want to say thanks to my friends and family for the support and especially Sir Chase who has been supportive of me and played a big part in my life by giving me a scholarship to attend the school,” he ended.
The WI-U19 squad reads: Keagan Simmonds, Kirstan Kallicharan, Cephas Cooper, Navin Bidaisee, Matthew Patrick, Te-Shawn Allene
(Trinidad & Tobago),
Johann Jeremiah, Emmanuel Stewart (Grenada),
Johnnel Eugene (St Lucia),
Daneal Dupigny, Alick Athanaze
(Dominica),
Jerellius Louis (St Kitts),
Javier Spence (Antigua),
Kian Pemberton(Nevis)
Joshua Persaud, Bhaskar Yadram
(Guyana),
Jeavor Royal (Jamaica)
