Three Antiguan players have been named in a 29-member squad for the West Indies Rising Stars Under-19s High-Performance camp being hosted here at Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG).
Leg-spinner Micah McKenzie from Empire Nation, batting all-rounder Jewel Andrew from All Saints Pythons and Freetown’s Yanique Watley are currently taking part in the camp which Cricket West Indies (CWI) has described as “the first activity to bring together the best Under-19s talent in the region and build towards the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup in 2024.”
The squad includes two players who were part of the West Indies Rising Stars Under-19s team at the 2022 ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup which was hosted in the Caribbean, namely left-handed batter Jordan Johnson and right-arm fast bowler Isai Thorne. A third squad member, top-order batter Justin Jaggessar played two Youth ODIs on the West Indies Rising Stars tour of England in September 2021, but did not play in the World Cup.
Nathan Edward, a left-handed bowling all-rounder, was originally selected to be in the squad but is currently representing St Maarten in the Leeward Islands Senior Men’s Tournament being played in St Kitts. He will be available for future Rising Stars camps and tournaments.
The players were selected based on performances during the Rising Stars age-group tournaments in 2022. Later in the year, CWI will host the 2023 regional age-group Rising Stars, presenting the opportunity for other players to compete for selection to the squad ahead of the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup.
The Rising Stars Under-19s High-Performance camp will feature targeted coaching sessions and physical preparations as well as sessions geared towards their off-field development. The camp started on February 21 and will run to March 9. It will feature 50-over matches at the CCG on February 25 and March 1, 5 and 8.
FULL SQUAD: Jacen Agard, Jewel Andrew, Brian Barnes, Solomon Bascombe, Golcharan Chulai, Mavindra Dindyal, Joshua Dorne, Tarrique Edward, Reon Edwards, Justin Jaggessar, Deshawn James, Orlando James, Jordan Johnson, Devonie Joseph, Jaden Lorde, Micah McKenzie, Joshua Morris, Stephan Pascal, Jatario Prescod, Andrew Rambaran, Rampertab Ramnauth, Tamarie Redwood, Nathan Sealy, Isai Thorne, Devin Tyson, Yanique Watley, Steven Wedderburn, Adrian Weir and Trevaun Williams.