Dreams come true for Nedd, Perez

‒ both players express confidence of making final cut

By Akeem Greene

Talented National Youth players Ashmead Nedd and Raymond Perez after a rewarding 2017 Regional Under-19 season gained selection to the West Indies under-19 training squad for the 2018 ICC Youth World Cup in New Zealand.
At the under-19 tournament in St Kitts in August, Nedd was deemed the Most Valuable Player for three-day leg while Perez won the same award for the Super50 version.

Nedd, a left-arm spinner, bowled 151.3 overs inclusive of 49 maidens and took 26 wickets. He had two five wicket hauls with best bowling of 7 for 20 recorded against the Windward Islands which was deemed the most wickets in a match. Nedd also took ten wickets in the Super50-over leg.
Speaking to Guyana Times Sport on Saturday he expressed that it was a tremendous feeling of joy when he heard the news and plans to do his best.
“I’ll credit my parents, especially my father Garvin Nedd who paid a keen role throughout my cricketing career and also throughout the regional under 19 tournament who had been my motivation. Since the tournament started he was sending me multiple voice notes in the morning before every match. I must say all the thanks should go to him and the Demerara Cricket Club who had also paid a key role into my cricketing career from the start,” he further stated.
Given that he will be competing for a spot in the final 15-man squad against arguably the best current youth cricketers in the region, Nedd knows he has to bring his A-game.
“I will be focused enough within every aspect we carry out in the camp know that that the stepping stone of making the final 15-man squad. In my game the area I should tighten up on is more consistency when bowling,” he posited.
Can he handle the pressure that might come? West Indies are the defending champions after a memorable win over India last year in Bangladesh.
“I think I can handle the pressure well I know a lot of the players in the squad and they have great ability. It wouldn’t be an easy task for the team but with the ability I know the team can bring success to the Caribbean once again,” the 16 year-old.
Given his stint in January 2015 playing for Tony Hartford U-17 Academy team of Trinidad and Tobago in a tour of New Zealand, the spinner feels it will be a big confidence booster should he make the final cut.
Likewise, his club mate Raymond Perez is eager to stake a claim for the ultimate heights for a youth cricketer.
“It was great feeling when I heard that I was selected. Coming out of the regional tournament with the most runs was my main goal and getting picked for the West Indies camp and hopefully getting picked for the world cup is a great feeling,” the compact right-handed batsman stated.
Perez scored 348 runs from six innings finishing unbeaten on three occasions which meant he averaged a staggering 116 and had a highest score of 77 against the Windward Islands.
“I looked to keep it to the basics, look at the new ball and see what the bowlers were doing. I knew a couple of bowlers so I knew what to expect from them. Night before my matches I would think of how to score my runs and think what fields they would set for me. I looked back to last year and to the fields they set and I know they will come with it again,” he explained.
Questioned on what areas he needs to address, he admitted improving his fitness. Though many batsmen from the Caribbean maybe daunted by the challenge of playing on seaming pitches, Perez sees it as an opportunity to gather more runs.
“The pitches are quite different. I think they will be a bit quicker which is good for batsmen to get scores,” the 18 year-old contended.
Perez too was questioned on the pressure that awaits and stated, “there will be a lot of expectations from us, we are defending champions so a lot of teams will be looking at us and wanting to beat us. I think there is a bunch of good guys who are talented and hopefully we come out successfully if we back our abilities.”
Shaping his career after talents such as Virat Kholi and Lendl Simmons, Perez has set his sights on either being the leading or close to the leading run scorer for Georgetown in the on-going Jaguars Franchise 3-day league so that he can enter the camp with an abundance of confidence.
The two-week training camp which runs from December 5 to 20 in Barbados and Antigua will be their final preparation in the Caribbean before travelling to the ICC Youth World Cup to be staged from January 13 to February 3.
The full squad reads; Alick Athanaze, Brad Barnes, Joshua Bishop, Cephas Cooper, Kishan Graham, Jarion Hoyte, Kirstan Kallicharran, Mikyle Louis, Aaron Maniram, Kimani Melius, Ashmead Nedd, Darron Nedd, Kian Pemberton, Raymond Perez, Joshua Persaud, Jeavor Royal, Keegan Simmons, Javier Spencer, Emmanuel Stewart, Bhaskar Yadram, Nyeem Young.