BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE top Region’s Under-19 cricketers are in St. Kitts to vie for this year’s title as the Three-Day version of the Tournament bowls off tomorrow (Jul. 24) at three venues.
Conaree, St. Paul’s and Verchild’s playfields are the venues that will be hosting the first round of matches in the six-team competition.
When play bowls off tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., host Leeward Island will take on defending champions Guyana at the Verchild’s ground, while Trinidad & Tobago will lock horns with Windward Islands in Conaree, and Barbados will square off with Jamaica at the St. Paul’s playfield.
The three first round matches will run from July 24-26 before the teams continue with round robin play, which is all teams playing against each other.
At the end of the Three-Day Tournament, the team with the most points will be declared Champions.
The six teams will then be joined by the ICC America’s for the Limited Overs category of the competition, which is expected to be bowled off from August 15.
Speaking with SKNVibes Sports recently, Director of Sports Anthony Wiltshire indicated that they were in the process of getting the venues up to date for the game
“We are presently in the process of getting the venues up to the required standards so that everybody would be pleased at what the environment and the conditions that they would meet when it kicks off on the 24th of this month.”
A statement from Cricket West Indies quoted the President of the St. Kitts Cricket Association, Dennis Phillip, as saying: “Preparations are well underway and venues will be ready for final inspection on Saturday, July 22. Final rounds of meetings with event staff will be completed by this Friday afternoon.
“As with everything, there are one or two kinks to be worked out, but we will be fully prepared on Monday.”
Meanwhile, in a comment, Rawle Lewis, the officer in charge of Youth Development at Cricket West Indies, stated that this tournament is “an important part of the calendar of events”.
Lewis made that comment as he looks to the next U-19 World Cup, where the West Indies are the defending Champions.
“The Under-19 Tournament is an integral part of the development of cricket in the West Indies. It is the final stage before first class cricket and many of our top players hone their skills here. Fast-bowler Alzarri Joseph, one of the young and upcoming players on the Windies senior team is a prime example of this.
“Shimron Hetmeyer, former captain of the Under-19 team who secured the championship trophy last year, has also featured at the top of the order for the Windies test team as of late,” Lewis said in a Cricket West Indies statement.
Guyana are the defending 50 Overs Champions and Trinidad and Tobago are the Three-Day Champs.
