ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Head coach Andre Coley says the Super50 Cup which bowls off Saturday will afford his West Indies Academy side valuable exposure to high-level competition, as one of eight teams set to participate in the three-week campaign.
The participation of the academy side will be crucial experience for the development players, and they will help raise the curtain on the Cricket West Indies 50-over showpiece on Saturday when they clash with Leeward islands Hurricanes at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground at 1 pm (Eastern Caribbean time).
“At this particular juncture when we’re playing our regional 50-over tournament, what’s good … is that it’s going to be the first time in a long time where we’ll have most of our top regional players participating in this tournament,” Coley said Friday.
“So it offers a good opportunity for up-and-coming players – the emerging players – to be involved in much needed competitive cricket.
“Coming out of COVID, everybody was affected by the lack of cricket and if the players are going to improve, they need competitive opportunities.”
The squad will be led by all-rounder Nyeem Young who has represented West Indies Under-19s and also turned out in the Caribbean Premier League as well as the Abu Dhabi T10.
He will be joined by a plethora of players from the Under-19 setup along with 22-year-old left-arm spinner Joshua Bishop who turned out in last year’s Super50 Cup for Barbados Pride.
Coley said the tournament would also serve the purpose of helping players to expand their skills set in different roles.
“It also gives them the opportunity to individually get stretched as players in different roles within the team setup and actually do that in a very competitive environment,” the Jamaican explained.
“Getting used to planning their individual games as well as working out how that dove-tails into an overall team plan.
“It is a very useful opportunity for the players and if each player individually takes that on board – which I’m confident everybody is eager and ready to go and appreciates the opportunity that’s ahead of them – then this opportunity will be really really worthwhile.”
Hurricanes, meanwhile, were tipped to win the 2019 edition of the Super50 Cup after reaching the final but then suffered a shock 205-run defeat to West Indies Emerging players.
Boasting the likes of off-spinning all-rounder Rahkeem Cornwall, stroke-maker Kieran Powell and West Indies leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jr, captain Jahmar Hamilton said Hurricanes would be taking nothing for granted.
“We’ve been training hard and have had a very good couple of months as a team training together for the Super50 tournament,” Hamilton said.
“We’re not taking any team for granted, it’s about coming out and playing hard cricket and also enjoying the game.
“Especially with our batsmen, we’re just looking to be as consistent as possible. Consistency is one of our main goals going into the tournament right through our top six or seven.
“We have a very good batting lineup and it’s also very long so it’s all about being consistent right throughout the tournament.
SQUADS:
HURRICANES – Jahmar Hamilton (captain), Rahkeem Cornwall (vice captain) Devon Thomas, Kieran Powell, Colin Archibald, Terance Warde, Jeremiah Louis, Keacy Carty, Ross Powell, Kofi James, Damion Williams, Sheeno Berridge, Hayden Walsh jr., Karima Gore.
WI ACADEMY – Nyeem Young (captain), Kirk McKenzie, Kevlon Anderson, Ashmead Nedd, Ackeem Auguste, Teddy Bishop, McKenny Clarke, Johann Layne, Kevin Wickham, Carlon Bowen-Tuckett, Joshua Bishop, Keagan Simmons, Joshua James, Leonardo Julien, Kelvin Pitman.
