Champion spinner Umroa confident of retaining Regional U-19 title

By Brandon Corlette

Guyana and Berbice Under-19 premier left-arm spinner Kelvin Umroa is confident heading into the 2019 Cricket West Indies (CWI) Regional Under-19 tournament in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Five time defending champions Guyana will begin their 50-over one-day title defence against Windward Islands on Sunday July 28.
Umroa is one of eight players from the 2018 squad returning to St Vincent with this 2019 squad. This squad will shortly be officially announced by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB).
Speaking exclusively with this reporter prior to the squad’s departure today, Thursday July 25, Umroa declared that his main objective heading into the tournament is to help his team defend their title successfully.
The left-arm spinner from Albion finished with 31 wickets in the 2019 Hand-in-Hand Inter-County tournament, which was the most recorded.
Reflecting on that stellar performance, Umroa shared some positive sentiments. “I think I performed really well in the inter-county tournament, because I was confident coming back from a West Indies Under-19 training camp, where I learned bowling tips and variations from experienced coaches from different countries”.
Umroa is an experienced campaigner and one of four West Indies Under-19 selectees in the Guyana Under-19 team. is aiming to finish the Regional Under-19 tournament as the leading wicket-taker. “This will give the selectors no doubt to select me for the World Cup squad”, Umroa noted.
When asked if there is any extra pressure added to his game being a West Indies Under-19 selectee, Umroa replied, “It will not put pressure on me, because, for the past four years, playing for Guyana at the youth level, I’ve been having really good performances; and this is my last year for junior cricket, and nothing will stop me from performing at my optimum best this year”.
The Guyana Under-19 team recently concluded their training camp, which was carefully conducted by Coach Julian Moore and Andy Ramnarine. During those session, Umroa added that he has been working on some bowling variations, batting and catching techniques, along with fielding and fitness.
Given that Umroa has had the opportunity to play a full three-day and one-day tournament in St Vincent and the Grenadines last year, he is fully aware of the conditions on offer. However, this year’s tournament will be played in only the one-day format.
“The conditions in St Vincent are suitable for spinners, and it will give me the confidence of getting wickets”, Umroa disclosed during an interview with this daily publication. Umroa has been one of the more successful youth players in recent times, and he is provably following the footsteps of his fellow team-mates from Albion: Devandra Bishoo, Verasammy Permaul and Gudakesh Motie, all of whom are spinners who have played for West Indies. On his success journey thus far, Umroa expressed gratitude to his father, his aunt Annie, Uncle Ravi, along with all his team mates and coaches.
He made special mention of spin trio Motie, Bishoo and Permaul, along with Albion CC President Vemen Walter, and Mr Outar as persons who played a major role in his blooming cricket career thus far.