Eddie Norfolk
The ICC Americas Under-19 squad enters the West Indies Cricket Board’s Under-19 Regional one-day championships this weekend. The tournament is a round-robin event playing one game against each of the other participating teams. The Canadian content in the ICC Americas squad is provided by Manny Aulkah, Nilkhil Dutta, Nitish Kumar, Ryankhan Pathan, Darren Ramsammy and Akash Shah. Other players in the ICC Americas squad come from the USA, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.
In their first game Americas were all out for 188 off 45.5 overs in reply to 262-7, leaving Barbados winners by 74 runs.
ICC Americas begins with a game against hosts Barbados at the Queen’s Park Oval, Bridgetown on Sunday August 19th, scene of many famous games, including the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup Final. The ground also hosted the opening game of the 2008 CLICO International Under-15 Championships between the West Indies Under-15’s and Malaysia Under-15’s.
The CLICO Under-15’s event might not seem on a par with a Cricket World Cup final, but ICC Americas fielded a development side in that 2008 tournament. It included Canadian-developed Nikhil Dutta and Nitish Kumar as well as opening bat Steve Taylor (USA) and Joshua Gilbert (Bermuda) who are all in the ICC Americas Under-19 squad for this year’s WICB Under-19 regional one-day tournament.
Kraigg Brathwaite scored 122 not out for the West Indies Under-15’s against the young Malaysians at the Queen’s Park Oval in the opening game of the CLICO Under-15 event in 2008. He has now played at the senior level for the West Indies and is currently in Australia waiting to captain the West Indies in an ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup quarter-final match against New Zealand in the next couple of days. Brathwaite and John Campbell shared an opening stand of 136 (27.4 overs) against the Malaysians; a game that the West Indies U15’s won comfortably by 146 runs. Campbell scored 61 and is also with the West Indies U-19 world cup squad in Australia.
Nitish Kumar captained the ICC Americas under-15’s in 2008. He took 3 wickets for 14 runs in an opening game win against Kenya Under-15’s at the Police Sports Ground, Weymouth (Barbados). Steve Taylor made 26 and took part in a stand of 49 for the third wicket with Joshua Gilbert. Gilbert top-scored with 43 not out as the ICC Americas beat the Kenyans by six wickets.
One of the improvements off the field in West Indies cricket in the last few years, as far as I am concerned, has been the expansion of the news releases from the WICB about cricketing tournaments and series. Two people now compile media releases as well as provide some scoring updates on some of the cricketing events taking place in the Caribbean. Another person tends to provide some of the board level decisions and concerns from the ‘corporate’ perspective.
Bouncing around the islands brings different phone companies and internet services into play, or potentially into play, which can be a bit of a challenge for someone spending only a couple of days in a particular country or island and seeking to send out a report or photos from a game. Similarly, in some junior tournaments that bounce between different islands, such as the 2008 CLICO event, once a game has ended a team may be off to the airport to fly to the next port of call.
After the opening game against Barbados, ICC Americas face the following schedule:
August 22nd Leeward Islands (at Pine Basin)
August 23rd Guyana (at Pine Basin)
August 25th Windward Islands (at Cable and Wireless Sports Ground, Wildey)
August 27th Jamaica (at Foursquare Oval, St Philip)
August 29th Trinidad and Tobago (at Pine Basin).
Matches are scheduled for 9.30am starts according to the West Indies Cricket Board website (www.windiescricket.com).
Other players in the ICC Americas squad include: Cameron Mirza, Mital Patel, Salman Ahmad, Gurpreet Sandhu and Hamad Shahid (USA); Kamau Leverock (Bermuda); and Sacha de Alwis (Cayman Islands).
Our best wishes go out to the ICC Americas squad and to the coaches and support personnel. Thanks are also due to the West Indies Cricket Board for facilitating the entry of this ICC Americas squad into the regional competition.