GUYANA’S 14-man squad, coach Julian Moore and manager/assistant coach Andy Ramnarine departed Guyana yesterday afternoon for St Kitts, confident of doing well at the upcoming Regional Under-19 Cricket Championships.

This year’s tournament is scheduled to take place from July 24 to August 28.
In an invited comment before the team left, Moore expressed confidence in the unit, adding that the team would be going all out to win both titles.
“Turf practice was the main setback for us, but having said that, we spent some time at the Chetram Singh Centre of Excellence hostel and indoor facility where we went through some intense training, so I am confident that the boys are ready for the battle,” Moore said. “We have a well all-round squad, capable of winning”.
Guyana will be looking to defend their 50-over title after they whipped the Windward Islands to win the 50-over title last year, but surrendered the three-day crown to Trinidad and Tobago.
The Regional Under-19 tournament will return to a full slate of matches, and will see the region’s leading youth players get a chance to mix it up in five rounds of three-day matches, as well as seven rounds of Super50 one-day matches.
According to a release from Cricket West Indies, the three-day competition will have the teams from the six territories, while in the 50-over format; the ICC Americas will field a team for a group of seven.
Following the West Indies success in the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh last year, the team is gearing up for the World Cup in New Zealand next year.
Rawl Lewis, the officer in charge of youth development at Cricket West Indies notes this tournament as an important part of the calendar of events.
“The Under-19 tournament is an integral part of the development of cricket in the West Indies. It is the final stage before first class cricket and many of our top players hone their skills here.”
Fast-bowler Alzarri Joseph, one of the young and upcoming players on the West Indies senior team is a prime example of this. Shimron Hetmyer, former captain of the Under-19 team who secured the championship trophy last year, has also featured at the top of the order for the West Indies test team recently.
The National Under-19 squad: Ronaldo Ali Mohamed (captain), Raymond Perez, Kevin Sinclair, Javed Karim, Kevlon Anderson, Ramnarine Chatura, Adrian Sukhwa, Alex Algoo, Richie Looknauth, Kheshram Seyhodan, Ashmead Nedd, Karan Arjpaul, Sylus Tyndall, Joshua Jones, Gavin Boodwa, Mark Jeffers, Joel Fortune, Stephon Campbell, Julian Moore (coach), Andy Ramnarine (manager/assistant coach).
Meanwhile, Bhaskar Yadram and Joshua Persaud will be joining the team upon their return from the West Indies Under-19 tour to South Africa and Zimbabwe.