Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Monday 20th December announced the match schedule for the Youth One-Day International Series between West Indies Rising Stars U19s and South Africa U19s. The teams will play four 50-over matches in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from December 26th to January 3rd at Arnos Vale Stadium and Cumberland Playing Field.
The West Indies and South African teams will arrive in Saint Vincent on Monday. The teams are using the series as preparation for the ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup which CWI is hosting from January 14th to February 5th in Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Guyana.
West Indies Head Coach Floyd Reifer said: “It’s great for us to have these matches as part of the build-up to the World Cup. We are really looking forward to this series against South Africa, as we are at the stage where it is important for the squad to play together, to see players in various roles, see how they respond to situations and how well they execute the plans we put in place.”
He added: “It is for us to also make sure we get the team going well together and have synergy, so the players fully understand each other. This is very crucial for us as we look to build the team energy and the team culture. I can’t stress enough how vital these matches are, and we will be taking them very seriously. We want to thank the Government and Cricket Association of St. Vincent and the Grenadines for working with our operations and medical teams over the past week to put things in place for us to get some much-needed playing time in the middle and preparations.”
The ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup will feature 16 teams in 48 matches. They are defending champions Bangladesh, England, Canada and the United Arab Emirates form Group A, with debutants Uganda placed in Group B alongside India, South Africa and Ireland. Group C comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea and Group D sees host West Indies, Australia and Sri Lanka and Scotland.
Match Schedule: December 26th: 1st Youth ODI at Cumberland Playing Field, December 28th: 2nd Youth ODI at Arnos Vale Stadium, December 30th: 3rd Youth ODI at Cumberland Playing Field, January 3rd: 4th Youth ODI at Arnos Vale Stadium.
West Indies Rising Stars U19s Squad: Ackeem Auguste (Captain) – left-hand bat, Giovonte Depeiza (Vice Captain) – right-hand bat/left-arm spin, Onaje Amory – right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin, Teddy Bishop – right-hand bat, Carlon Bowen-Tuckett – right-hand bat/wicket-keeper, Jaden Carmichael – right-hand bat/left-arm spin, McKenny Clarke – right-hand bat/right-arm fast, Rivaldo Clarke – right-hand bat/wicket-keeper, Jordan Johnson – left-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin, Johann Layne – right-hand bat/right-arm fast, Anderson Mahase – left-hand bat/left-arm spin, Matthew Nandu – left-hand opening bat/right-arm leg-spin, Shaqkere Parris – right-hand, opening bat, Shiva Sankar – right-hand bat/right-arm medium-fast, Isai Thorne – right-hand bat/right-arm fast.