A 26-member youth squad has been selected to continue preparations for the West Indies Rising Stars U19s tour of England next month, Cricket West Indies announced on Tuesday (August 17).

The squad was selected following targeted coaching sessions and an eight-match trial series in Antigua last week. The players will now continue training and planning sessions this week with a final 18-member squad for the tour to England to be named at a later date.

“The screening trials went very well. We saw some excellent performances and it was not easy to cut down the large number of such talented young players. You could see the enthusiasm was high in all the players, and the spirit was high in all the teams,” said Head Coach Floyd Reifer.

“We have to do everything we can to encourage all of the players who came, to continue working on their game. A more intensive camp has started where we will push forward to improve the skill set, the mindset, and the tactical awareness of the 26 players, before cutting the squad further.

“More will go into the tactical sessions as we work towards the Tour of England and onto the ICC U19 World Cup. We will also promote the West Indian brand of cricket that we want to play going into that World Cup, without neglecting the fundamentals.”

The West Indies Rising Stars U19 tour of England will feature six Youth One-Day Internationals at The County Ground, Beckenham and The Polo Farm, Canterbury from Saturday, September 4 to Friday, September 17.

The West Indies Rising Stars U19s High-Performance Camp is a key part of CWI’s investment in developing and preparing the players for the ICC U19 World Cup to be played in the West Indies early next year.

The full squad is as follows: Onaje Amory, 17, (right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin); Anderson Amurdan, 18, (right-hand opening bat); Ackeem Auguste, 17, (Left-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin); Justin Beckford, 17, (right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin); Teddy Bishop, 18, (right-hand opening bat); Carlon Bowen-Tuckett, 17, (Right-hand bat/wicket-keeper); Jaden Carmichael, 18, (Right-hand bat/left-arm spin); McKenny Clarke, 18, (Right-hand bat/right-arm fast); Rivaldo Clarke,18, (Right-hand bat/wicket-keeper); Amrit Dass, 18, (Right-hand bat/left-arm chinaman); Giovonte Depeiza, 18, (Right-hand bat/left-arm spin); Nathan Edwards, 16, (Left-hand bat/left-arm fast-medium); Andel Gordon, 18, (Right-hand bat/left-arm medium-pace); Sion Hackett, 18, (Right-hand bat/right-arm medium-fast); Justin Jagessar, 16, (Right-hand bat); Jordan Johnson, 16, (Left-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin); Kyle Kissoondath, 17, (Right-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin); Johann Layne, 17, (Right-hand bat/right-arm fast-medium); Nicholas Lewin, 18, (Right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin); Anderson Mahase, 18, (Left-hand bat/left-arm spin); Matthew Nandu, 18, (Right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin); Shaqkere Parris, 18, (Right-hand bat/wicket-keeper); Kelvin Pittman, 18, (Right-hand bat/right-arm fast-medium); Isai Thorne, 16, (Right-hand bat/right-arm fast); Shiva Sankar, 18, (Right-hand bat/right-arm medium-fast); and Vasant Singh, 17, (Right-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin).