Guyanese duo, Matthew Nandu and Isai Thorne have been included in the West Indies’ Uunder-19 Rising Stars squad of 26 for an upcoming High Performance Camp ahead of next month’s tour to England.
This is according to Cricket West Indies who announced the 26 players after a four-team tournament of 56 players concluded.
“The squad was selected following targeted coaching sessions and an eight-match trial series in Antigua last week. The players will now continue training and planning sessions this week with a final 18-member squad for the tour to England to be named at a later date,” a release from the board stated.
Nandu, who captained the Yellow Flamingos to the title, showed his class not only in leadership but also a match winning innings of 65 from 106 balls as well as economical spells with his off-spin.
Also, Thorne executed effectively with his pace and control to give justice to the months of work done in Guyana prior to the series.
However, batsmen Mavindra Dindyal and Rampertab Ramnauth were unable to find places within the squad.
Head Coach, Floyd Reifer said “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. You could see the enthusiasm was high in all the players, and the spirit was high in all the teams.”
He added, “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 mindset, and the tactical awareness of the 26 players, before cutting the squad further.”
Reifer detailed that there will be more tactical sessions leading into the tour and the Under-19 World Cup.
The West Indies Rising Stars U19 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 U19s High Performance Camp is a key part of CWI’s investment in developing and preparing the players for the ICC U19 World Cup to be played in the West Indies early next year.
U19 Rising Stars Squad: Onaje Amory, Anderson Amurdan, Ackeem Auguste, Justin Beckford, Teddy Bishop, Carlon Bowen-Tuckett, Jaden Carmichael, McKenny Clarke, Rivaldo Clarke, Amrit Dass, Giovonte Depeiza, Nathan Edwards, Andel Gordon, Sion Hackett, Justin Jagessar, Jordan Johnson, Kyle Kissoondath, Johann Layne, Nicholas Lewin, Anderson Mahase, Matthew Nandu, Shaqkere Parris, Kelvin Pittman, Isai Thorne, Shiva Sankar, Vasant Singh
