By Avenash Ramzan
Five Guyanese have been included in the West Indies Under-19, 15-member World Cup squad to participate in an 11-day camp in St. Kitts and Nevis. Three reserves have also been named, according to a Cricket West Indies release, issued Friday afternoon.
The Guyanese are all-rounders Bhaskar Yadram and Ronaldo Ali Mohamed, opener Raymond Perez, wicket-keeper/batsman Joshua Persaud and spinner Ashmead Nedd. Their selection is reward for outstanding individual performances in this year’s Regional Under-19 tournament.
The camp, which will run from December 10-20, is the last round of preparation before they depart the region on December 28. Windies Under-19s are the defending champions for the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup, New Zealand 2018. The tournament runs from January 13 to February 3.
Head Coach Graeme West expressed excitement at the team chosen, “It’s an exciting time for these guys now that they’ve discovered they’re going to be going to a World Cup. It’s a bit of a younger side than the last one we took to Bangladesh. However, we have a very established, experienced batting group, with the likes of Kirstan Kallicharan and Emmanuel Stewart who went to the last World Cup.”
West thinks there will be “a lot more attention on the West Indies in this tournament, after the last tournament and title in Bangladesh. In the group stage, we’re in a very tough group as the #1 seeds, so we’re going to have to hit the ground running, just to succeed in the group stage.”
The team is scheduled to depart the region on December 28. A one-week camp will be held in New Zealand prior to the start of the World Cup.
SQUAD READS: Emmanuel Stewart – Captain (Windward Islands- Grenada), Kirstan Kallicharan – Vice Captain (Trinidad & Tobago), Ronaldo Ali Mohammed- (Guyana), Alick Athanaze- (Windward Islands- Dominica), Cephas Cooper- (Trinidad & Tobago), Jarion Hoyte- (Barbados), Kimani Melius- (Windward Islands- St. Lucia), Ashmead Nedd- (Guyana), Kian Pemberton- (Leeward Islands- St.Kitts & Nevis), Raymond Perez- (Guyana), Joshua Persaud- (Guyana), Jeavor Royal- (Jamaica), Keagan Simmons- (Trinidad & Tobago), Bhaskar Yadram- (Guyana) and Nyeem Young- (Barbados).
RESERVES: Brad Barnes- (Jamaica), Joshua Bishop- (Barbados) and Javier Spencer- (Leeward Islands- Antigua & Barbuda).
MANAGEMENT TEAM: Graeme West- (Head Coach), Dwain Gill- (Team Operations Manager), Corey Collymore- (Assistant Coach), Khevyn Williams- (Physiotherapist), Zephyrinus Nicholas- (Strength & Conditioning Coach) and Dinesh Mahabir- (Analyst).
