JOHN’S, Antigua – Cricket West Indies announced today its schedule of age group development tournaments for the Caribbean summer, starting with the Regional Under-17 Tournament to be contested in Trinidad.
The Under-17 tournament which opened today will be followed a week later by the Regional Under-15 Tournament in Barbados and the busy period for the youth players in the Caribbean comes to a conclusion with the Regional Under-19 Tournament, starting on July 24 in St. Kitts.
Rawl Lewis, the CWI project officer for youth tournaments, said: “The aim of our youth tournaments is to identify players with talent and give them an opportunity to further develop their skills through the intensity of competition against their peers from around the region.
“We’ve done a lot of planning and preparation for this period which will be quite busy, but we are looking forward to see how our young players are developing and hope that they grab this opportunity with open arms.
“There are also incentives for the best of our young players to play for an age group West Indies team, as the Under-15s are scheduled to go to England again next month and a strong performance could see a few players squeeze into the Under-19 side for the ICC Youth World Cup early next year in New Zealand.”
There is something extra special about each of the regional youth tournaments taking place this year.
The Under-17s will get to christen the recently inaugurated Brian Lara Cricket Academy located in the south Trinidad district of Tarouba. It will be the first time any kind of regional matches will be played there, and will inform local and CWI officials about the quality of the venue, as it seeks to become fully integrated into the regional circuit.
For the Regional Under-15 Tournament, this will be the first time that it will be played in Barbados and teams can look forward to playing matches at a number of picturesque, rural venues, especially the KMV Oval at Lakes in the north-eastern parish of St. Andrew.
At the same time, the Regional Under-19 Tournament will return to a full slate of matches, following a few years of truncated competition. The region’s leading youth players will get a chance to mix it up in five rounds of three-day matches, as well as seven rounds of 50 overs-a-side matches that also include a composite side from ICC Americas.
SCHEDULE OF MATCHES
REGIONAL UNDER-17 TOURNAMENT
(in Trinidad)
Round 1 – July 11
Trinidad & Tobago vs Barbados – Brian Lara Cricket Academy
Guyana vs Windward Islands – Gilbert Park
Leeward Islands vs Jamaica – National Cricket Centre
Round 2 – July 13
Windward Islands vs Barbados – National Cricket Centre
Trinidad & Tobago vs Jamaica – Gilbert Park
Leeward Islands vs Guyana – Brian Lara Cricket Academy
Round 3 – July 15
Barbados vs Jamaica – National Cricket Centre
Windward Islands vs Leeward Islands – Brian Lara Cricket Academy
Trinidad & Tobago vs Guyana – Queen’s Park Oval
Round 4 – July 16
Leeward Islands vs Barbados – National Cricket Centre
Guyana vs Jamaica – Queen’s Park Oval
Trinidad & Tobago vs Windward Islands – Brian Lara Cricket Academy
Round 5 – July 18
Guyana vs Barbados – Gilbert Park
Trinidad & Tobago vs Leeward Islands – National Cricket Centre
Jamaica vs Windward Islands – Brian Lara Cricket Academy
REGIONAL UNDER-15 TOURNAMENT
(in Barbados)
Round 1 – July 26
Leeward Islands vs Guyana – Crab Hill
Windward Islands vs Barbados – Weymouth “A”
Jamaica vs Trinidad & Tobago – Brighton
Round 2 – July 28
Barbados vs Leeward Islands – Three Ws Oval
Trinidad & Tobago vs Guyana – Lucas Street
Jamaica vs Windward Islands – Crab Hill
Round 3 – July 31
Leeward Islands vs Trinidad & Tobago – KMV Oval
Barbados vs Jamaica – Lucas Street
Guyana vs Windward Islands – Weymouth “A”
Round 4 – August 2
Jamaica vs Leeward Islands – Lucas Street
Windward Islands vs Trinidad & Tobago – Three Ws Oval
Guyana vs Barbados – KMV Oval
Round 5 – August 4
Leeward Islands vs Windward Islands – Lucas Street
Jamaica vs Guyana – Three Ws Oval
Trinidad & Tobago vs Barbados – Crab Hill
REGIONAL UNDER-19 TOURNAMENT
(in St. Kitts)
3-Day Tournament
Round 1 – July 24 to 26
Trinidad & Tobago vs Windward Islands
Leeward Islands vs Guyana
Barbados vs Jamaica
Round 2 – July 28 to 30
Guyana vs Trinidad & Tobago
Jamaica vs Windward Islands
Leeward Islands vs Barbados
Round 3 – August 1 to 3
Trinidad & Tobago vs Jamaica
Guyana vs Barbados
Leeward Islands vs Windward Islands
Round 4 – August 6 to 8
Barbados vs Trinidad & Tobago
Leeward Islands vs Jamaica
Windward Islands vs Guyana
Round 5 – August 10 to 12
Leeward Islands vs Trinidad & Tobago
Barbados vs Windward Islands
Jamaica vs Guyana
Super50 Tournament
Round 1 – August 15
ICC Americas vs Guyana
Leeward Islands vs Trinidad & Tobago
Windward Islands vs Jamaica
Bye – Barbados
Round 2 – August 17
Barbados vs Trinidad & Tobago
Jamaica vs ICC Americas
Leeward Islands vs Windward Islands
Bye – Guyana
Round 3 – August 19
Guyana vs Jamaica
Windward Islands vs Barbados
Leeward Islands vs ICC Americas
Bye – Trinidad & Tobago
Round 4 – August 22
Windward Islands vs Trinidad
Leeward Islands vs Guyana
ICC Americas vs Barbados
Bye – Jamaica
Round 5 – August 24
Leeward Islands vs Jamaica
Trinidad & Tobago vs ICC Americas
Barbados vs Guyana
Bye – Windward Islands
Round 6 – August 26
ICC Americas vs Windward Islands
Jamaica vs Barbados
Guyana vs Trinidad & Tobago
Bye – Leeward Islands
Round 7 – August 28
Leeward Islands vs Barbados
Windward Islands vs Guyana
Trinidad & Tobago vs Jamaica
Bye – ICC Americas
*Match venues to be announced later