Led by the versatile athlete Jonathan Van Lange, a confident Guyana Under-17 team departed for Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday to compete in the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Rising Stars Regional Under-17 competition from August 12 to September 1.
Van Lange, also a national table tennis standout, will have Matthew Pottaya as his deputy, with support from Vickash Wilkinson, the Under-17 Inter-County MVP, opener Rampersaud Ramnauth, Sanjay Algoo, Nicholas Shiopersaud and Kevin Kisten, all of whom were top performers during the Inter-county tournament played in July.
SQUAD: Jonathan Van Lange (Captain), Rampersaud Ramnauth, Kevin Kisten, Vickash Wilkinson, Romeo Deonarain, Ari Afrizal Kadir, Nityanand Mathura, Sanjay Algoo, Matthew Pottaya (Vice-captain), Golcharran Chulai, Nicholas Shiopersad, Salim Khan, Bruce Vincent and Darwin Joseph.
“The squad left Guyana following a 12-day intense training camp under the guidance of Cricket West Indies (CWI) Level Two coach Quasen Nedd and Neil Rudder, who was a member of the disciplined force,” the Guyana Cricket Board said in a press release.
“Given the favourable weather conditions during their encampment, which included two-day matches and a 50-over practice match, this unit leaves Guyana confident of becoming the first Guyana team to win the Regional Under-17 tournament.”
This year’s Regional Under-17 tournament will have a two-day format as well as a 50-over format with the Super50 being played first.
Guyana will face Barbados in their first game on Saturday at Gilbert Park.
Thank you Guyana Crricket Board and TTCBC for organising this tournament to expose and unearth new talent at the youth level. This initiative can only augur well for the future development and flowering of the West Indian brand and the media must give this tournament coverage to stimulate the youths and encourage those in T&T to rekindle their their innate skills in the leather and willow enconters.