With just days remaining before the start of the WICB’s regional 50 overs tournament, there seems to some mystery surrounding the selection of the West Indies under 19 team.
Most, if not all of the territories have already released their 14 man squad for the tournament but there seems to be some hesitancy in releasing the under 19 team.
Among those waiting with baited breath for a call up, is youthful Nevisian speedster, Kian Pemberton, who was a dominant force in the recently concluded West Indies under 19 regional tournament and made it into the practice squad, which took part in warm up exercises previously in Grenada.
Since then, the young man, who indicated that he performed at his utmost, has not been told if he will be included in the prestigious team, which to the credit of the West Indies Cricket Board, will be using the tournament as practice and warm up towards the defence of the title they won last year, in terms of the next under 19 world cup.
The Leeward Islands cricket Board has however, been very proactive in inviting the young speedster to be part of their training camp (not officially in their 14 man squad) but the practice sessions with the senior players will only enhance the development of the young fast bowler.
Meanwhile, it is not a coincidence that the Leewards team is training in Antigua, one of the islands hosting the 50 overs tournament. With Kian already in place, who knows what the possibilities are?
Interestingly, in a recent release on the West Indies Cricket Board’s website, it was stated that Keemo Paul, one of the members of the Windies under 19 winning team of last year, is one of three over aged players assigned to the youthful squad for the upcoming tournament and that another Guyanese, Bhaskar Yadram would be also heading to Antigua to be a part of the under 19 team.
Yet the team has not been released.