CWI targeting U-19 World Cup standouts for academy- Grave

By Akeem Greene

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The first intake for the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Emerging Players Academy will start in July 2022 and run for a year. Up to 30 players will be selected from both the Men’s and Women’s talent pool, aged between 19 and 25.

Chief Executive Officer, Johnny Grave in a recent interview with News Room Sport said the pool, for the males, will come from players who excelled at the two previous youth World Cups.

In the two Youth World Cups in question- South Africa 2020 and in the West Indies in 2022- four Guyanese – Ashmead Nedd, Kevlon Anderson, Matthew Nandu and Isai Thorne – competed over the period.

They could be front-runners to cop a spot at the academy which has an aim to bridge the gap after the West Indies Under-19 level and assist their progression into one of the six Territorial Board Franchise squads, with the intention that they will graduate to earn one of the fifteen (15) retainer contracts available in each team.

“The selection panels, both the women’s and the youth panel will be meeting over the next few weeks to identify the pool who will predominantly be between the ages of 19-22 range which is the last group of players who would have impressed the selectors at the last Under-19 World Cup, but also the last one in 2020 in South Africa.

“So, that is where the pool of players will come from, and soon as the selectors pick those players we will be starting that emerging academy,” the CEO conveyed in an interview.

Ann Browne-John heads the women’s selection panel, which also comprises Travis Dowlin while Ramnaresh Sarwan, Robert Haynes and Under-19 Head Coach Floyd Reifer make up the youth selection panel.

At a recent CWI Board of Directors Meeting, deliberations included the plans for the Emerging Players Academy at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.

Players selected for the CWI Emerging Players Academy will be first expected to meet the CWI minimum fitness requirements before they will be exposed to high-quality training programmes and camps in Antigua.

The programme will focus on developing the players holistically and include specific aspects of the game away from the pitch such as media engagements, financial management, personal development, and leadership.

Players will also enjoy playing opportunities through the CPL Emerging Players partnership with CWI and the Emerging Players team that participated in the annual CG Insurance Super50 Cup.