ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Nov 14, CMC – West Indies Under-19 head coach, Rohan Nurse says his troops are ready and raring to go against England in their upcoming seven match Youth ODI series in Grenada. The Windies head into the series on a high following their 4-3 series victory over Sri Lanka Under-19s back in September. Nurse said he believes the lessons learnt from that hard-fought series will put the home side in good stead against England, with the opening match set for Sunday. And with the Under-19 World Cup on the horizon, he said the England series was the perfect preparation.
“We were really impressed with the resilience shown by the players in the last series, especially since it was the first time they had been together as a team. “Those are elements that can’t necessarily be coached – they have to be developed within the group, and we’re quite happy with that. We want to build on it going forward,” Nurse said.
“This series comes at a really good time for us. Now, it’s more about moving toward a performance-driven environment—while still helping the guys understand professionalism, expectations, and roles on and off the field.” While the head coach admitted that he was satisfied with the team’s fighting spirit, he identified specific areas for improvement and stressed on the importance of consistency and concentration.
“One of the main things we’ve emphasized is maintaining intensity in all departments – batting, bowling and especially fielding. We want to create some kind of advantage in that area,” Nurse explained. “We’ve seen that we can put together very good performances and be competitive at the international Under-19 level. It all starts at the top from a batting viewpoint and being able to convert when we get starts. That’s been a key focus in preparation.
“From a bowling standpoint, we’ve also worked on clearly defining roles and identifying who best suits which role,” he added. The West Indies Under-19s will once again be led by Joshua Dorne, but features three changes to the side that faced Sri Lanka. DeShawn James returns from injury while Kunal Tilokani and Tanez Francis have bee drafted into the squad after impressive performances in the regional Under-17 tournament.
Afraz Ali Budhoo, Micah Greenidge, and Pajay Nelson miss out on the England series, but along with Jewel Andrew and Micah McKenzie, they will form part of the larger player pool from which the World Cup squad will be selected in a few months’ time.
SQUAD
West Indies Under 19 Squad vs England: Joshua Dorne (captain), Shaquan Belle, Brendan Boodoo, Tyriek Bryan, Zachary Carter, Earsinho Fontaine, Tanez Francis, R’Jai Gittens, DeShawn James, Vitel Lawes, Matthew Miller, Isra-el Morton, Jakeem Pollard, Aadian Racha, Kunal Tilokani, Johnathan Van Lange.
Match Schedule:
1st Y-ODI – November 16
2nd Y-ODI – November 19
3rd Y-ODI – November 21
4th Y-ODI – November 24
5th Y-ODI – November 26
6th Y-ODI – November 29
7th Y-ODI – December 1
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