Guyanese Nandu, Thorne selected for West Indies U19 tour to England

On Friday, Cricket West Indies (CWI) Rising Stars Selection Panel announced an 18-member West Indies U19 squad for the upcoming tour of England.

The squad will be led by Ackeem Auguste with Giovonte Depeiza as vice-captain. Auguste is a left-handed top-order batsman while Depeiza is a right-handed middle-order batsman and left-arm spinner.

Guyanese batsmen Matthew Nandu and pacer Isai Thorne have also been selected.

Robert Haynes, Lead Selector for U19 Rising Stars said: “This trip to England is part of the preparation for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup next year and will prove valuable experience for these young men. We have a very good combination, and it is really pleasing to see we have quality all-around cricketers in the group, which gives us more options. The conditions in England will be challenging, and they know that, but they have fantastic management support in the set-up, including Sir Curtly Ambrose whose experience and knowledge will be an asset.”

Haynes added: “We started the selection process four weeks ago, with 60 very talented youngsters from all across the region. It wasn’t easy cutting the squad down. But if you look at the balance in the bowling attack we have now selected, with six fast bowlers and three specialist spinners, you can see we have selected a quality attack.  We also have some talented batsmen who we expect to perform well. The work that everyone has put in to get these guys here to this level has been exceptional.”

Rohan Nurse will lead the coaching staff as the Acting Head Coach, as Floyd Reifer is unavailable due to prior contractual arrangements with the Caribbean Premier League.

The tour will feature six Youth One-Day Internationals at The County Ground, Beckenham and The Polo Farm, Canterbury from Saturday, September 4 to Friday, September 17.

The West Indies Rising Stars U19s squad was selected following an eight-match trials series with 60 players. From there the squad was reduced to 26 players who were then involved in more intensive targeted high-performance coaching and simulation sessions.

The ICC U19 Cricket World Cup will be hosted by Cricket West Indies from January 4 to February 3, 2022.

West Indies U19 ‘Rising Stars’ Squad: Ackeem Auguste (Captain) Age: 17 (Left-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin); Giovonte Depeiza (Vice-captain) Age: 18 (Right-hand bat/left-arm spin); Onaje Amory Age: 17 (Right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin); Anderson Amurdan Age: 18 (Right-hand opening bat); Justin Beckford Age: 17 (Right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin); Teddy Bishop Age: 18 (Right-hand opening bat); Carlon Bowen-Tuckett Age: 17 (Right-hand bat/wicket-keeper); McKenny Clarke Age: 18 (Right-hand bat/right-arm fast); Rivaldo Clarke Age: 18 (Right-hand bat/wicket-keeper); Nathan Edward Age: 16 (Left-hand bat/left-arm fast-medium); Andel Gordon Age: 18 (Right-hand bat/left-arm medium-pace); Sion Hackett Age: 18 (Right-hand bat/right-arm medium-fast); Justin Jagessar Age: 16 (Right-hand bat); Johann Layne Age: 17 (Right-hand bat/right-arm fast-medium); Anderson Mahase Age: 18 (Left-hand bat/left-arm spin); Matthew Nandu Age:18 (Left-hand bat/right-arm off-spin); Isai Thorne Age: 16 (Right-hand bat/right-arm fast) and Vasant Singh Age: 17 (Right-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin)

Team Management: Rohan Nurse (Acting Head Coach), Sir Curtly Ambrose (Assistant Coach), Steve Liburd (Assistant Coach), Junie Mitcham (Team Manager), Avenesh Seetaram (Analyst), Alex Forde (Strength & Conditioning Coach) and Lyndon Knights (Physiotherapist)

Match schedule

Saturday, September 4: 1st Youth ODI – Beckenham

Monday, September 6: 2nd Youth – Beckenham

Wednesday, September 8: 3rd Youth ODI – Beckenham

Friday, September 10: 4th Youth ODI – Canterbury

Tuesday, September 14: 5th Youth ODI – Canterbury

Friday, September 17: 6th Youth ODI – Canterbury