Ja’s Royal named in WI Under-19 squad to tour southern Africa
EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD JEAVOR Royal is the only Jamaican named in a 15member West Indies Under-19 squad named to tour southern Africa in July.
Allrounder Royal played for the West Indies Under-19 team in this year’s regional Regional Super50 tournament. Emmanuel Stewart of the Windward Islands will captain the squad, which includes five new caps.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) yesterday announced the squad that will take on South Africa in five Youth One-day Internationals and Zimbabwe in three.
“The squad is well balanced with a number of multidimensional players which will provide depth in all departments,” said head coach Graeme West.
YOUNG BUT UNITED
“This team is still very young in comparison with the previous squad, but it’s already a very united group that works well together and has a great desire to learn and improve.”
Stewart and vice-captain Kirstan Kallicharran are the only two remaining members from t he World Cup-winning squad of last year.
The new players are: Trinidad & Tobago left-handed batsman and part-time off-spinner Keegan Simmons, nephew of former West Indies batsman and head coach Phil Simmons and cousin of West Indies
batsman Lendl Simmons; Guyanese wicketkeeper-batsman Joshua Persaud, along with pacer Cephas Cooper of Trinidad & Tobago, Darren Nedd from Grenada, and Barbadian Nyeem Young.
The remaining eight players were part of the team that played in the Regional Super50 Tournament in January and February in Antigua, including Bhaskar Yadram.
The slow bowling all-rounder from Guyana is the only player in the squad who has moved on to make his first-class debut, playing for reigning three-time Regional Four-Day champions Guyana Jaguars against Leeward Islands Hurricanes last April.
The WICB said i n a media release that the tours were being undertaken as part of the team’s build-up to the ICC Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand from January 12 to February 4 next year.
“We are going to give 15 talented, young players the opportunity to represent West Indies, experience touring overseas and play Youth Internationals,” said West.
West said the objectives for the tour is to win both series and establish the patterns of play and combinations that will be taken into the World Cup.
“We will want to see growth and improvement in every game we play and we will want contributions from all members of the squad, so it will be important that the team acclimatises quickly and gets off to a good start,” he said.
Squad: Emmanuel Stewart (captain), Kirstan Kallicharran (vice-captain), Te-Shawn Alleyne, Alick Athanaze, Joshua Bishop, Cephas Cooper, Mykile Louis, Darren Nedd, Matthew Patrick, Joshua Persaud, Jeavor Royal, Kegan Simmons, Jeavier Spencer, Bhaskar Yadram, Nyeem Young