By Neto Baptiste
Coach of the Leeward Islands Under-19 squad, Terry Adams, has commended the players for the progress he’s seen over the past two weeks, but believes there is room for improvement as they continue preparations for the WICB Under-19 Championships starting at the end of the month.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, the Anguillan pointed to key elements of their game where, although satisfactory, belts need to be tightened.
“A bit of control, especially for the faster bowlers is something we definitely have to work on. Most of the batters performed fairly well and the good thing about it is that we had the Zawandi White, the Elroy Francis, the Uri Smith stepping up which is our basic foundation at the top stepping up in terms of batting. In [Sunday’s] game, unfortunately, they didn’t really perform but we had other batsmen that stepped up to the plate and show that they also need to be seriously looked at,” he said.
The under-19s played two warm up matches here over the weekend, winning one and losing the other against the Antigua and Barbuda Under-23 squad.
Iconic former West Indies captain and National Hero, Sir Vivian Richards backed the youngsters to do well in the upcoming tournament but warned that unity will be key.
“Just give everything you’ve got in terms of what you need to get done for your team, you know we’re coming from all various parts of the Leewards and sometimes that can be pretty problematic but the most important thing is that when you guys get out onto the field itself, then it is for you guys to form that camaraderie amongst yourselves and believe in yourselves because you’re the ones going out there to compete together, fighting together. It’s almost like going to war where you’re in the bunker together and all the stuff flying around and there is no other war to fight, in my opinion, than a sporting war,” he said.
The Leeward Islands will open their campaign against Jamaica on 28th July at Cumberland in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Six Antiguan cricketers are included the 14-man squad for the 25th July to 11th August tournament.
Elroy Francis Jr. leads the list of national youth players named and is joined by Uri Smith, Demari Benta, Paul Miller, Jawaski Joseph and Taiem Tonge.
The other members of the squad are Bodgenarine Sharma, Anderson Amurdan, Carlon Bowen-Tuckett, Jaden Carmichael and Akadianto Willett, all of Nevis.
Other team members are Kriston Yearwood (Montserrat), and Antonio Fernandes (St. Maarten).