St Lucia’s Ackeem Auguste will lead a 15-man West Indies U19 squad for the ICC U19 World Cup that will be held in the Caribbean in January-February 2022. Auguste will have Giovonte Depeiza as his vice-captain like it was during the six-match Youth One-Day International Series in 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 team-mates and we know this is a great opportunity on the international stage,” said the 18-year-old St Lucian.

“We had the tour of England earlier this year and that was a good experience for all of us. I learned a lot about leadership on that tour and I would say I have grown since then. We have worked hard to reach this stage and we are ready ahead of the World Cup.”

PLAYERS VERY EXCITED

Four reserves have also been named for the tournament in which the West Indies youth players will play in Group D alongside Australia, Sri Lanka and Scotland.

The final 19 players – 15 squad members and four reserves –  were selected from the 28 players who had been assembled for the recent high-performance camp and preparation matches at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.

“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 lead selector Robert Haynes.

“The batting is solid, our concern coming out of the tour of England was the middle-order, but we saw some really good performances in the camp and some very good partnerships. The bowling is very good, and we think we have the right combination of spinners and fast bowlers. This is a balanced squad and the players are very excited. It is now for these youngsters to go out and put on display what they learned in the camps which were organised for their benefit.”

Haynes commended the coaching staff for the work put in to prepare the players for the U19 World Cup.

“It has not been an easy task with the COVID-19 pandemic in our midst, but we have overcome several hurdles and have a team which is well organised and ready for the challenges ahead,” he said.

Meanwhile, Head Coach Floyd Reifer said the improvement and development in the players have been noticeable.

“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,” he said.

“We have a lot of talented players and what we are working on is the tactical side of our preparations. We have batsman who can bowl well and bowlers who can bat as well, so we have a good balance.”

The full squad is 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.

The reserves are Anderson Amurdan, Nathan Edward, Andel Gordon, Vasant Singh and Kevin Wickham