Top U-19s join SporTT/TTCB Academy

THE latest batch of promising youth cricketers have been officially inducted into the TT Cricket Board’s Under-19 Academy.

The 18 youngsters were selected based on their showing in the zonal age group competitions and started the intensive programme last weekend at the Sir Frank Worrell Development Centre at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva.

The outstanding cohort will undertake eight consecutive weekends in a live-in camp under the experienced hand of CWI-certified coach Debideen Manick, and trainer Gerald Garcia, who has worked with the national senior team.

Manick has expressed excitement at the opportunity to work with the group which he said represents the best of the present crop of Under-19s.

“I see this as another opportunity to mould their obvious natural talent into a disciplined and focused unit which will serve TT cricket for many years,” said Manick.

The former Chaguanas Borough Corporation councillor for Felicity/Endeavour first took charge of the TTCB Academy programme last year.

The extended 2023 camp paved the way for this year’s edition mainly through development funding from the Sport Company.

TTCB boss Azim Bassarath, who is also the CWI vice-president, stressed the importance of providing opportunities for the budding national cricketers to fine-tune their skills under the hand of Manick and Garcia, two proven professionals.

He said the investment in the cricketers is money well spent, as he thanked SporTT and the Ministry of Sport and Youth Development.

Bassarath said the academy dovetails into the all-encompassing calendar of events, unlike any in the Caribbean, comprising Under-13, Under-15, Under-17, and Under-19 tournaments.

These competitions attract the best local talent in the respective age groups from the seven TTCB zonal councils (North, East, North East, Central, South, South West and South East), and Tobago.

Bassarath said the TTCB has also been pioneering an Under-23 competition, which has brought back a forgotten group back into the national setup, which is now eligible for national selection.

Also, in an effort to identify and nurture talent at an early age, the TTCB has initiated an under-13 initiative with already two reciprocal series against Guyana, and recently to Grenada.

He noted that CWI has taken note of the TTCB foray into youth cricket development and is seriously considering introducing regional tournaments for the under-13s and under-13s.

Manick was pleased with the opening weekend of the academy as the Under-19s arrived last Friday evening and left on Sunday.

“Our first two sessions were laying the foundation and guidelines. Assessments were done on the batsmen. We also collected a lot of data from video recordings, including the various type of grips used by highly successful cricketers,” Manick said.

Among the modules covered over the first weekend were the fundamentals of batting, with a focus on the key technical and psychological areas of wielding the willow.

Cricket Academy inductees 2024:

1. Abdul Raheem Toppin
2. Alvin Sonny
3. Michael Ramdass
4. Luke Ali
5. Aneal Rooplal
6. Aaron Basant
7. Jayden Kent
8. Ryan Yearwood
9. Alexander Chase
10. Zachary Madray
11. Christian Lall
12. Samir Saroop
13. Renaldo Fournillier
14. Johanson Gajadhar
15. Joseph Mendoza
16. Zakilon Beckles
17. Aadian Racha
18. Niall Maingot