Coach, Captain confident of Under-19 Cricket title defence

Head Coach, Kenroy Martin and team Captain, Luke Wilson have expressed confidence that St Vincent and the Grenadines can retain the Winlott Inc. Windward Islands Under-19 cricket title.

The tournament is slated for Dominica from July 5 and it will be at the same location when the tournament was last held that the Vincentians trumped.

Martin’s confidence is based on team composition , citing the presence of some players who have some experience despite their age.

“I am very much impressed with the players’ abilities and what they have learnt and are putting into practice… We have some pretty good players … We have a very good team, it is now for the guys to put it together on the field, and bring the performances”, Martin assessed.

Cognisant that the other territories will be chasing after the title, Martin stated, “We are defending champions and we are expected to defend our title…
“The other teams will be looking to dethrone us so we have to play good cricket, maintain our standards and we should come back home as champions”.
The team’s head coach also expressed satisfaction with preparations heading into the tournament.

“ As it relates to preparations, the weather has been good to us, the only thing is that some of the players had examinations, which hindered us from having day to day practices,” Martin told SEARCHLIGHT last Saturday as the team hosted a practice match at the Sion Hill Playing Field.

Joining Martin with high expectations is Wilson, who has been elevated from the Under-15 level to lead the Vincentian outfit.

Optimistic about his team’s prospects, Wilson said, “Going into this tournament, we have the ability to win based on our preparation. “…From a team perspective, I would want our team to come out on top”.

Revealing his personal ambitions and goals, Wilson disclosed, “I want to be among the main wicket takers, probably twenty plus wickets in the tournament…. ” He added, “holistically, as an individual I want to move into the West Indies Under-19 set up, but before that I have to go through the Windwards Under-19”.

Wilson is among a 13-member team that will travel to Dominica by sea this weekend via St.Lucia. The others are Ethan Gibson, vice – captain; Ian Gonsalves; Kodi Grant; Coby Da Breo; Joe Williams; Kevin Shallow; Kirtney Franklyn; Reynolly Hillocks; Mario Baptiste; Devonte Mc Dowall; Reshawn Lewis; and Solomon Bascombe .

The reserves are Newton Browne Jr; Watson Seaton; Elron Glasgow; Javon Richardson; and Jordan Charles.

The squad will be accompanied by Parnel Browne as manager with Elron Lewis as assistant coach.