By Akeem Greene in Trinidad
Cricket West Indies (CWI) has stuck to the trend of forming developmental teams to participate in the Super50 championship, and the rewards continue to be forthcoming.
It has been beneficial to the growth of budding Guyanese talents Ashmead Nedd and Kevin Sinclair. Both of them were selected for the West Indies Emerging Players team, who, to the surprise of many, have qualified for the semi-finals, which commence on Thursday at the Queen’s Park Oval.
Based in Trinidad for all their matches, both players showed the vital ingredients of skill, fitness, clever thinking and consistency to place a stranglehold on superior players, some of whom have international experience.
Nedd, an orthodox left-arm spinner, who has the credentials of a Youth World Cup under his belt in 2018, and an impending one next year in South Africa, said the experience has assisted him in learning more skills of this game.
“Looking back on the previous [Under-19] World Cup that I played, it was not my best tournament, and I have learnt a lot about different conditions. Coming into this tournament it is much different surfaces and I have been working on hitting specific areas in the nets.”
The 18-year-old added, “The experience is good; coming against top players from the region is good. Working with [coaches] Floyd Reifer, Ryan Austin and Kenneth Benjamin is great to have that sort of experience around you.”
With six wickets from four matches, the lad from Demerara Cricket Club, has an economy rate of 3.09, the second best for the team and third overall in the tournament. Sinclair has the tournament’s best at 2.89 from his seven matches, with seven wickets.
Barbados pacer Miguel Cummins, who has played five matches, picking up 10 scalps, has the second best at 3.07.
Despite the tag of ‘developmental players’, Nedd insisted the Emerging Players felt from day one, the squad had the right components to topple regional powerhouses and go deep into the tournament.
For Sinclair, his selection was heart-warming since he was overlooked for national duty after a relatively successful SBF Petroleum 50-over Franchise League with bat and ball for West Berbice, scoring 235 runs and claiming 13 wickets, including a best of 5-31.
“It is a wonderful experience to have this management staff working with me to develop my game. That’s where the impact is most, to see players develop and go on to play at the highest level.”
With 96 handy runs in this tournament batting in the lower-order, Sinclair said his modus operandi is just to keep it simple and not try too many variations; just simply back his ability.
He added, “I took some of the positive of the Franchise League back home. The competitiveness is there so you have to remain consistent in very area and it is showing off in this tournament.”
It was sweet joy for the duo when they defeated Guyana Jaguars by one-run on the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern method in a rain-affected match at the Queen’s Park Oval.
“Defeating them [Guyana Jaguars] was good for the team. [ Despite] not being a part of them [Guyana Jaguars] I did not have any hard feelings, but when I came against them it is to show my worth and still be consistent in batting and bowling.”
“Defeating them is a big plus for this West Indies Emerging Player team because they [Guyana] came with a lot of reputation of advancing to the semi-final because last year they played in the final so they came with high expectations. We defeating them put us on a top bracket that we could play cricket and go far in the tournament.”
Meanwhile, Head Coach Floyd Reifer said he is impressed with both players and predicts once they can continue developing their skills and understanding what it takes to be a high performance athlete, they can have a promising future.
