Preparations begin for 2020 U-19 World Cup

ST JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC):

The West Indies Under-19 team began a one-week high-performance camp yesterday as they begin preparations for the 2020 ICC Under-19 World Cup.

They will be working under the guidance of head coach Graeme West and his assistant, Roddy Estwick, at the Coolidge Cricket Ground here.

During the camp, they will also engage in interactive sessions with West Indies cricket great Sir Curtley Ambrose in a bid to boost their chances of victory in the limited-overs cricket tournament.

"This is the first step of a journey that will take the players through to the ICC Under-19 World Cup in January and February 2020, with South Africa hosting the biannual event," West said.

"This will be our first opportunity to work with the players selected from the regional age-group tournaments played in July and August. The main aim of the camp is to observe, assess, and educate the players, introducing them to the Cricket West Indies High Performance syllabus. Every player will depart the camp with a training programme that they will begin to work through in the New Year through their territories."

West has been head coach for last two ICC Under-19 World Cups and was the man at the helm when the Windies won the title in Bangladesh two years ago.

Estwick, meanwhile, is one of the region's most experienced coaches and recently worked with the Windies Women during their impressive showing at the ICC Women's World T20 in the Caribbean.

The squad for the camp includes three players who competed in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year: opener Kimani Melius, fast-bowling all-rounder Nyeem Young, and left-arm slow bowler Ashmead Nedd.

 FULL SQUAD

• Matthew Forde (Barbados)

• Nyeem Young (Barbados)

• Nico Reifer (Barbados)

• Antonio Morris (Barbados)

• Kevlon Anderson (Guyana)

• Sachine Singh (Guyana)

• Ashmead Nedd (Guyana)

• Kelvin Umroa (Guyana)

• Jayden Seales (Trinidad and Tobago)

• Joshua James (Trinidad and Tobago)

• Rivaldo Ramlogan (Trinidad and Tobago)

• Leonardo Julian (Trinidad and Tobago)

n Avinash Mahibirsingh (Trinidad and Tobago)

• Matthew Patrick (Trinidad and Tobago)

• Elroy Francis (Leeward Islands)

• Zawandi White (Leeward Islands)

• Daniel Beckford (Jamaica)

• Kirk McKenzie (Jamaica)

• Kimani Melius (Windward Islands)