WI youths ready for World Cup

DINESH RAMDIN, captain of the West Indies Under-19 cricket team, said his team-mates are “silently confident of our chances at the World Cup but we’re definitely going to do our best.” Ramdin professed this during a press conference at the Sir Frank Worrell Development Centre, Balmain, Couva, on Saturday as the players prepared for the upcoming ICC Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh. Thirteen of the 14-member team were engaged in a week-long live-in camp at Couva before they departed yesterday, via London, England and Dubai, United Arab Emirates for a 13-day stint in Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, the Windies lads will play five warm-up matches — one against Sri Lanka Under-17 and four versus the S/Lankan Under-19s, before they leave the island on February 8 for Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The WI players will be then joined by ace fast bowler Ravi Rampaul from senior team duties in South Africa. They will be involved in two practice matches in Bangladesh before kicking off their campaign, in the Group phase, against Ireland on February 16. Team manager, ex-TT pace bowler Roland Sampath revealed that the players are well aware of the conditions in Bangladesh, adding that “all are in good spirits and are physically fit.” “Programmes were put in place from since the team was selected. We evaluated their fitness on Friday and all have returned positive results,” said Sampath. The policeman was also coach of the TT Under-19 team who copped the double (three-day and one-day) championship at the regional competition last August. Seven members of the squad were part of the West Indies Under-15 unit who won the inaugural Costcutter World Challenge in England in 2000 — wicketkeeper Ramdin, Rampaul, then captain and now opening batsman Tishan Maraj, pace bowler Lionel Baker (Montserrat), allrounders Lendl Simmons and Xavier Marshall (Jamaica) and left-handed batsman Assad Fudadin (Guyana).

Also included in the team are middle-order batsman Kirk Edwards (Barbados), the team’s vice-captain and cousin of Windies pacer Fidel Edwards, and allrounder Liam Sebastian (Dominica), son of ex-WIndward Islands opener Lockhart Sebastian. Completing the squad are fast bowlers Mervin Matthew (Dominica) and Barrington Yearwood (Barbados), left-handed batsman Zamal Khan (Guyana) and the Trinidadian pair of middle-order batsman Jonathan Augustus and left-arm spinner Rishi Bachan. President of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) Dinanath Ramnarine noted that his group organised a bpTT-sponsored media training session earlier yesterday for the youngsters. “These guys have been well prepared, physically and mentally,” said the ex-WI and national leg-spinner. Also speaking at the press briefing were Zoral Bartley, Chief Operations Officer of the West Indies Cricket Board (WIBC), who expressed his delight with his efforts with the players and offered his gratitude to the WIPA and the WICB for their input in the team’s preparations.