TT aim to sweep West Indies U-19 titles

THE TT cricketers are expected to be strong contenders to lift the title when the West Indies “Rising Stars” Under 19 Championship bowls off in St Vincent and the Grenadines, today.

The opening round matches, all at 9.30 am are – Windward Islands versus Guyana, Leeward Islands versuss Jamaica and Barbados versus TT. The Championship culminates on the August 7 with the final (round), followed by an additional three "Best vs The Best" matches to identify the leading Under-19 talent.

On Thursday, team coach David Furlonge expressed quiet confidence that the squad possesses a winning combination of solid batting and incisive bowling to dominate the opposition.

“We expect to do very well. We have an excellent combination of fast bowlers, coupled with several excellent spinners. In addition, our batting goes deep down the order and at least four of our top order are from last year’s tournament,” said Furlonge.

From a development perspective, Furlonge harbours high hopes for several members of his squad who he feels will certainly graduate from the Under-19 stage of their careers into the senior Red Force Squad.

Among those who are likely to play a great part if TT are to come away with Under-19 honours are team captain and opening batsman Leonardo Julien, Tobago’s Joshua James, seamer Jayden Seales, and vice-captain Avinash Mahabirsingh.

Furlonge, the assistant coach/manager of the Red Force team, said that he also expects a solid performance from both Sameer Ali and his namesake Nicholas, who both have another year among the Under-19s.

He said that his squad has had excellent preparation for the tournament despite being put off by the Under-17 tournament which restricted the use of the outdoor facilities, but the boys more than made up for this lack of access by training indoors.

Jimmy Adams, Cricket West Indies (CWI) director of cricket mentioned, "The value of our Under 19 tournament cannot be overstated given its position within the development pathway. Most, if not all, of our international players going back 20-30 years were identified in this tournament and it continues to be a critical phase of our talent identification programme."

And CWI high performance director Graeme West stated, "The Under 19 is senior tournament for youth cricket in the region and its a very important tournament with regardless to assessing the talent in our pathway."

TT Squad: Leonardo Julien (captain), Avinash Mahabirsingh (vice-captain), Mbeki Joseph, Leon Bassano, Antonio Gomez, Joshua James, Rivaldo Ramlogan, Jayden Seales, Sameer Ali, Nicholas Ali, Leonardo Francis, Ronaldo Forrester, Aaron Nanan, Damien Joachim; David Furlonge (coach), Kerwin John (manager).

Fixtures (50-overs) –

Today: Windward Islands vs Guyana, Arnos Vale; Leeward Islands vs Jamaica, Cumberland; Barbados vs TT, Park Hill

Tuesday: TT vs Jamaica, Park Hill; Guyana vs Barbados, Arnos Vale; Leewards vs Windwards, Cumberland

Thursday: Guyana vs Leewards, Cumberland; TT vs Windwards, Park Hill; Jamaica vs Barbados, Arnos Vale

August 4: Barbados vs Windwards, Park Hill; Leewards vs TT, Arnos Vale; Guyana vs Jamaica, Cumberland

August 6: Barbados vs Leewards, Park Hill; Windwards vs Jamaica, Cumberland; TT vs Guyana, Arnos Vale