GUYANESE batsman Matthew Nandu and pacer Isai Thorne got the nod when Cricket West Indies (CWI) yesterday announced the 26-member squad to continue preparations for the West Indies Rising Stars U-19s tour of England next month.
The squad was selected following targeted coaching sessions and an eight-match trial series in Antigua last week.
Rampertab Ramnauth and Mavindra Dindyal were the two Guyanese players to miss out on selection from the 56-member training group.
The selected players will now continue training and planning sessions this week with a final 18-member squad for the tour to England to be named at a later date.
In a CWI release, head coach Floyd Reifer said: “The screening trials went very well. We saw some excellent performances and it was not easy to cut down the large number of such talented young players. You could see the enthusiasm was high in all the players, and the spirit was high in all the teams. We have to do everything we can to encourage all of the players who came, to continue working on their game.”

“A more intensive camp has started where we will push forward to improve the skill set, the mindset, and the tactical awareness of the 26 players, before cutting the squad further. More will go into the tactical sessions as we work towards the Tour of England and onto the ICC U-19 World Cup. We will also promote the West Indian brand of cricket that we want to play going into that World Cup, without neglecting the fundamentals.”
The West Indies Rising Stars U-19 tour of England will feature in six Youth One-Day Internationals at The County Ground, Beckenham and The Polo Farm, Canterbury from Saturday, September 4 to Friday, September 17.
The West Indies Rising Stars U-19s High-Performance Camp is a key part of CWI’s investment in developing and preparing the players for the ICC U-19 World Cup to be played in the West Indies early next year.

U-19 Rising Stars Squad
Onaje Amory, age 17 (right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin); Anderson Amurdan, age 18 (right-hand opening bat); Ackeem Auguste, age 17 (left-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin); Justin Beckford,: age 17 (right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin); Teddy Bishop, age 18 (right-hand opening bat); Carlon Bowen-Tuckett, age 17 (right-hand bat/wicketkeeper); Jaden Carmichael, age 18 (right-hand bat/left-arm spin); McKenny Clarke, age 18 (right-hand bat/right-arm fast); Rivaldo Clarke, age 18 (right-hand bat/wicketkeeper); Amrit Dass, age 18 (right-hand bat/left-arm chinaman); Giovonte Depeiza, age 18 (right-hand bat/left-arm spin); Nathan Edwards, age 16 (left-hand bat/left-arm fast-medium); Andel Gordon, age 18 (right-hand bat/left-arm medium-pace); Sion Hackett, age: 18 (right-hand bat/right-arm medium-fast); Justin Jagessar, age 16 (right-hand bat); Jordan Johnson, age 16 (left-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin); Kyle Kissoondath, age 17 (right-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin);
Johann Layne, age 17 (right-hand bat/right-arm fast-medium); Nicholas Lewin, age 18 (right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin); Anderson Mahase, age 18 (left-hand bat/left-arm spin); Matthew Nandu, age 18 (right-hand bat/right-arm off-spin); Shaqkere Parris, age 18 (right-hand bat/wicketkeeper); Kelvin Pittman, age 18 (right-hand bat/right-arm fast-medium); Isai Thorne, age 16 (right-hand bat/right-arm fast); Shiva Sankar, age 18 (right-hand bat/right-arm medium-fast); Vasant Singh, age 17 (right-hand bat/right-arm leg-spin).