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By Joel Bailey |
The team includes the highly touted group of batsmen Tonito Willett, Devon Smith and Narsingh Deonarine, wicket-keeper batsmen Carlton Baugh and Patrick Browne, and exciting bowlers Jermaine Lawson, Andrew Richardson, Ryan Austin, Camilus Alexander and Ron Matthews.
There are 11 players with first-class experience in the party, Parchment and Baugh, who represented Jamaica in the 2001 Busta Cup, Austin of Barbados, the Grenadian Smith (for the Windward Islands), the Guyanese Matthews and Hemraj Garbarran, and, for the West Indies 'B' team in this year's regional contest, the Vincentian Kenroy Peters, the Nevisian Willett, the Guyanese Deonarine, the Grenadian Alexander and the Jamaican Lawson. And Parchment, Deonarine, Peters, Alexander, Lawson and Richardson were members of the West Indies squad for the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka.
Three opening batsmen have been chosen, Parchment, Smith and Garbarran. Parchment is a compact right-hander who represented the West Indies 'A' team against India 'A' in 1999, Smith, the little left-hander who was instrumental in the Windwards' victories in the Under-19 tournament (where he was voted as the MVP) and Red Stripe Bowl, and Garbarran a right-hander with a penchant for the leg side, who can also double as a wicket-keeper.
The middle-order comprises of Willett, Deonarine, Guyanese Vishal Arjune and Anguillan off-spinning all rounder Omari Banks. But, and it is no secret, all eyes will be on both Willett and Deonarine.
Willett, the son of the first Nevisian Test player Elquemedo, is one of the most technically-gifted and exciting batsmen to emerge from the West Indies youth circuit in years, following Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ryan Hinds, Leon Garrick and Chris Gayle. A right-hander who is equally confident on both front and back foots, he has a bright future.
Deonarine, dubbed the next Chanderpaul, is the baby of the team. At 17 years, he has created waves at both the Under-15 and Under-19 level with his phenomenal high scoring, technique and ability to occupy the crease for lengthy periods. This tour can be the making of a great career for the slim left-hander.
Baugh and Browne will share the glovework during their six-week tour in England. Baugh graduated from the famed Wolmer's College, the school which produced fellow Windies keepers Ivan Barrow, Karl Nunes, Franz Alexander, Jackie Hendricks and Jeff Dujon. Browne is also a capable middle-order batsman.
Reflecting the growing list of emerging spinners in the Caribbean, three were chosen for this tour, Austin, Matthews and Alexander. At the recent Busta Cup, the Trinidadian-born Austin became only the second person of East Indian descent to represent Barbados. A handy off-spinner and brilliant fielder, he has the makings of a useful bowling all-rounder. The diminutive Matthews is a leg-spinner with a big arm-action, and he filled the role of the absent Mahendra Nagamootoo's during the premier regional competition this year. Alexander has been labelled the next Rawl Lewis (they share the same nationality and bowling action), and, with his wicket-taking exploits (55 wickets in the last two Under-19 contests) and experience, he will be the flag-bearer in the spin category.
The pace quartet is made up of Lawson, Richardson, Peters and Guyanese Rayon Thomas. Lawson, with a debatable arm action, is a lanky and energetic Jamaican quickie who recorded the only hat-trick at the 2000 Under-19 World Cup. With extreme pace, he can prove to be a handful to the English batsmen. His countryman Richardson, the eldest member of the team, is capable of extracting bounce and lift with his height. Along with Lawson, he had a stint at the Australian Cricket Academy last year but missed the recent Busta Cup due to injury. Peters is a slim left-hander from St Vincent while Thomas is a promising pacer from the Essequibo region of Guyana.
The first official Windies youth team to tour England was led by Trinidadian Dudnath Ramkissoon, and including Larry Gomes, William Bourne and David Murray. Under the sponsorship of the United Kingdom committee of the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Fund, the squad played 16 matches against country and representative teams. They also made trips to England in 1974, under the leadership of Colin Murray, 1978, 1982 and 1993, and they hosted the Englishmen in 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1985. Overall, the teams have battled in 22 'Tests', with the West Indies winning eight, England three and 11 drawn.
Twenty-six West Indians and 28 from England have advanced from this level to play Test cricket, including Gomes, Murray, Richie Richardson, Courtney Walsh, Jimmy Adams, Roland Holder, Carl Hooper, Roger Harper, Wayne Daniel, Gus Logie (West Indies); Graham Gooch, Mike Gatting, John Emburey, David Gower, Chris Cowdrey, Phil Tufnell and Phillip De Freitas (England).Chanderpaul, Lewis, Mervyn Dillon, Dinanath Ramnarine, Colin Stuart, Marcus
Trescothick and Michael Vaughn featured in the 1993 contest in England, where the hosts prevailed 1-0. The Windies won at home, by a 1-0 margin in 1995, a series that involved Lewis, Ramnarine, Trescothick, Lincoln Roberts, Marlon Black, Reon King, Chris Schofield and Andrew Flintoff.
Traditionally, the West Indies youth selectors choose the squad after the annual youth tournament while England generally selects theirs from country teams. It will be a fantastic opportunity for the regional players to use this trip as a way of bridging the gap between themselves and the senior West Indies players.
WI TEAM: Brenton Parchment (captain), Devon Smith (vice-captain), Hemraj Garbarran, Narsingh Deonarine, Tonito Willett, Omari Banks, Vishal Arjune, Carlton Baugh, Patrick Browne, Ryan Austin, Ron Matthews, Camilus Alexander, Andrew Richardson, Jermaine Lawson, Kenroy Peters, Rayon Thomas.
Tour (from July 19 to September 1): Limited-overs at Hove (July 27) and Chelmsford (July 29 & 30); four\_day 'Tests' at Leicester (August 6-9),
Nottingham (August 15-18) and Chester-le-Street(August 28-31).