Selena Ross has an unyielding love and passion for the game of cricket. And she aims to make the most of it with every opportunity that she gets to step up and represent to the fullest.
Selena, 17, an athlete at the recently established High Performance Centre [HPC] left the island, last week, for Antigua to participate in the West Indies Under-19 trials.
She was one of two young Saint Lucian females making a bid for selection on the Windies U-19 team, with the other player being Destiny Edward.
Before her departure, Selena spoke to VOICE Sports about her dreams and aspirations for the future.
The young left-arm seamer says she learned to remain focused and work hard towards her goal and “to keep on getting better and improving myself.”
Despite her young age, Selena has gained some experience in the sport having represented the Saint Lucia Women Senior National Cricket Team.
Playing in the Windwards Senior Women Cricket Tournament, she says: “We had an amazing tournament. And I also made the reserves for the Windwards Senior Women Team and I was very happy with that, because it was my first time trying out.”
She also got to compete in the West Indies Women Under-19 Tournament in Trinidad & Tobago “and it was an amazing tournament, I enjoyed myself and tried to do my best.”
Recalling that Saint Lucia has produced some remarkable female cricketers in the past, including former West Indies captain Verena Felicien, Eugene Gregg, Patsy George and other young players lately, such as Qiana Joseph and Zadia James, Selena declared: “I am really proud of myself, I started at the age of 13 years and I just keep on going. I push myself and I’m really proud that I came a long way.”
She credits the input of coach Alton Crafton, whom she says, “helped me from the start, we were training every day, extensive training and just keeping focused. It has brought me a long way and I just feel that at a young age, I can just keep on going to the finish.”
A recent graduate from the Sir Ira Simmons Secondary School [SISS], Selena hails from the La Clery community.
She is also grateful for the support from other persons, such as her manager Ms. Preville. As a participant in the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Senior camp, she received support and guidance from players like Britney Cooper and others.
The CWI Under -19 team preparation for the ICC Under-19 World Cup in 2025 ran from January 4 to 14 and was conducted to “develop us and get us prepared for the World Cup, in 2025,” says Selena.
Lately, several young local cricketers have broken into the Windies camp and looking forward to forge a name for themselves – and Selena appears well set to take on the challenge with her bubbly, determined and cheerful demeanor.