Four Trinidad and Tobago players chosen for WI Under-19 cricket camp

CRICKET West Indies (CWI) has announced the squad for the West Indies Rising Stars Under 19s High-Performance camp being hosted at Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) in Antigua.

Four TT players have been named in the 29-member training squad: Justin Jaggessar, Jacen Agard, Orlando James and Andrew Rambaran.

The camp started on Tuesday and will run until March 9. It will feature 50-over matches at the CCG on February 25, March 1, March 5 and March 8.

On Thursday, a CWI media release, said, “This is the first activity to bring together the best Under-19 talent in the region and build towards the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup in 2024.”

The squad includes two players who were part of the West Indies Rising Stars Under 19s squad at the 2022 ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup, which was hosted in the Caribbean. Left-handed batter Jordan Johnson and right-arm fast bowler Isai Thorne have been named in the team.

A third squad member, top-order batter Jaggessar, played two youth ODIs on the West Indies Rising Stars tour of England in September 2021, but did not play in the World Cup.

Nathan Edward, a left-handed bowling all-rounder, was originally selected in the squad, but is now representing St Maarten in the Leeward Islands Senior Men’s tournament being played in St Kitts. He will be available for future Rising Stars camps and tournaments.

The players were selected on the basis of performances during the Rising Stars age-group tournaments in 2022.

Later in the year, CWI will host the 2023 regional age-group Rising Stars, giving other players the opportunity to compete for selection in the squad ahead of the ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

The Rising Stars Under-19 High-Performance camp will feature targeted coaching sessions and physical preparations as well as sessions geared towards their off-field development.

Robert Haynes, lead selector for the men’s youth selection panel, said, “This camp is all about the importance of the development of West Indies cricket and this is laying the foundation for the future of our game in the region. This is not just about playing in the ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup next year, but also about developing the overall player on and off the field. We have some very talented players in this group and we know they will do very well. We still have the age-group tournaments later this year where more players can put in performances and earn selection.”

Rohan Nurse has been named CWI’s new talent pathway manager. As part of his role, he will design and lead the programme for the players’ preparations leading up to the next ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup, scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka in early 2024.

The former assistant coach of the West Indies Rising Stars Under-19 team will lead the day-to-day management of the development squad as part of his wider high-performance role of managing the best talent across the region.

During the camp he will be joined by assistant coaches Nikita Miller and Rohan Clarke; Nick Wilton, specialist wicket-keeping coach; Graeme West, CWI’s high-performance manager; Chris Brabazon, CWI’s coach development manager; and Steve Liburd, West Indies Women’s Under-19 head coach.

TRAINING SQUAD

Jacen Agard, Jewel Andrew, Brian Barnes, Solomon Bascombe, Golcharan Chulai, Mavindra Dindyal, Joshua Dorne, Tarrique Edward, Reon Edwards, Justin Jaggessar, Deshawn James, Orlando James, Jordan Johnson, Devonie Joseph, Jaden Lorde, Micah McKenzie, Joshua Morris, Stephan Pascal, Jatario Prescod, Andrew Rambaran, Rampertab Ramnauth, Tamarie Redwood, Nathan Sealy, Isai Thorne, Devin Tyson, Yanique Watley, Steven Wedderburn, Adrian Weir, Trevaun Williams.