Cricket West Indies has named a 15-member squad and five reserves to contest the ICC Under 19 World Cup to be held in the West Indies from January 14 to February 5, 2022.
The squad will be captained by left-handed middle-order batsman Ackeem Auguste. Allrounder Giovonte Depeiza will be his deputy.
They were also the captain and vice-captain during the young Windies six-match Youth One-Day International series against England in September.
“It is a special honour to be named to captain the West Indies team. To represent the people of our region is a special privilege and it’s a really exciting time for me and my teammates as we know this is a great opportunity on the international stage,” said Auguste.
The West Indies U19s have been drawn in Group D alongside Australia, Scotland and Sri Lanka for the 16-team tournament.
“Overall, the selectors are very pleased with what we have been seeing from these players and we expect some very exciting cricket in the World Cup,” said Robert Haynes, lead selector.
Haynes alluded to the balance of the squad as one of its strong points.
“The batting is solid. The bowling is very good. This is a balanced squad and the players are very excited. It is now for these youngsters to go out and display what they learned in the camps that were organized for their benefit,” said Haynes.
Head Coach Floyd Reifer was pleased with the development the players showed in the last camp in Antigua.
“Coming out of the last camp in Antigua we have seen a lot of improvement and development in the players and we came up with a very good squad. I’m confident that we have a well-balanced team going into the World Cup and we have the team to do very well in the tournament,” said Reifer.
The young Windies play their first match of the tournament on January 14th against Australia.
The full squad is as follows: Ackeem Auguste (Captain), Giovonte Depeiza (Vice-Captain), Onaje Amory, Teddy Bishop, Carlon Bowen-Tuckett, Jaden Carmichael, McKenny Clarke, Rivaldo Clarke, Jordan Johnson, Johann Layne, Anderson Mahase, Matthew Nandu, Shaqkere Parris, Shiva Sankar and Isai Thorne.
Reserves are Anderson Amurdan, Nathan Edward, Andel Gordon, Vasant Singh and Kevin Wickham. (Sports Max)