Fifteen players have been chosen to attend a camp at the West Indies High Performance Centre (WIHPC) at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda.
The camp, which commences on Monday, June 17, and will run until the end of this month, aims to enhance the cricketing skills of these players in the ‘red ball’ format of the game.
Nine of these chosen players are set to feature in the West Indies “A” team in their upcoming Home Series against India “A”, which starts next month.
Test fast bowler Shermon Lewis and recovering international all-rounder Rovman Powell head the list of players attending this camp. Four Guyanese players are included: specialist batsmen Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Chandrapaul Hemraj, all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford and pacer Romario Shepherd.
The other players are the rookie Jamaica Scorpions’ pair of off-spinner Akim Frazer and batsman Brandon King; the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force pair of left-arm spinner Khary Pierre and the left-handed opener Jeremy Solozano; and Barbados Pride’s fast bowler Chemar Holder, a member of the West Indies Under-19 World Cup-winning squad of 2016.
This ‘red ball’ camp follows a similar training camp that was held for emerging ‘white ball’ players, which ended on June 12 at the same venue. Four of the players from that camp will also participate in this camp.
WIHPC Programme Manager Graeme West has said the HP training camp was all part of CWI’s ongoing investment in players’ development, to fortify the pool of talent available; which is a key aspect of the CWI strategic plan. It also follows new policies outlined by new president Ricky Skerritt and vice president Kishore Shallow.
“This camp is another opportunity for the CWI selectors to recognise and reward players that have impressed in Regional cricket,” West has said. “Many of the players selected have come through the CWI talent pathway, and have benefited from our investment in Youth, Under-19, High Performance and ‘A’ Team programmes over the last five years.
“Seven of the fast bowlers that attended last year’s Fast Bowling Programme will be involved, all of whom have made significant strides forward since their attendance; with Shermon Lewis, the stand-out, having made his Test debut against India last October.
“Four of the players selected also participated in the recent Emerging Players Camp, which focused primarily on their ‘white ball’ skills’ development; but this camp will focus on ‘red ball’ skills, with every player involved having produced performances of great quality in the West Indies Championship,” West detailed.
He said that, following the outstanding series’ win by the senior West Indies team against England earlier in the year, this is an opportunity to increase the depth of talent that would look to sustain the recent successes in the long term.
“Preparation and development of the players does not stop at just their playing skills,” West said. “There is a comprehensive programme designed to deliver across a range of areas, including personal development; involvement in community projects; media training; nutritional guidance; and further training in physical and mental components.
“It would be great to have five players with full international caps to their names attending (the camp), enabling them to pass on some of their experiences to the younger players in the squad, who have only just been introduced to the first-class arena in the Caribbean,” West concluded. (CWI)
SQUAD
Keacy Carty*, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Dominic Drakes*, Akim Frazer^ Keon Harding*, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Kavem Hodge, Chemar Holder*^, Brandon King^, Shermon Lewis^, Marquino Mindley, Khary Pierre^, Rovman Powell^, Sherfane Rutherford^, Romario Shepherd^ and Jeremy Solozano^.
*Players who participated in recently-concluded Emerging Players ‘white ball’ camp.
^Players selected for West Indies “A” squads against India “A” (commencing July 11th)
