TRINIDAD and Tobago’s top Under-19 cricketers have been called up for a series of trial matches to select the cream of the crop for a shot at selection on the West Indies team for the 2022 ICC Under-19 World Cup which will be staged in the Caribbean.
The national trials get underway on Sunday when North/Tobago play South East/South at the National Cricket Centre Ground in Balmain, Couva, where all the matches will contested and will be 50-overs per side.
The competition also involves Central/South West, and East/North East with matches being played on a round-robin basis leading to a finale on Saturday, April 24 with a North against South clash.
The trials have been requested by Cricket West Indies as the best gauge to assess the quality of the youth cricketers who would have ordinarily been on show in the regional championships which unfortunately have been scuttled in 2020 and 2021 because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The process to select the venues for the 2022 ICC Under-19 World Cup has already started and regional territories are preparing their bids for consideration by CWI which is expected to be one of the most competitive ever because of the prevailing circumstances.
The tournament, which was won by the West Indies in 2016 and unearthed several future West Indies Test cricketers including Alzarri Joseph, Shimron Hetmyer and “A” team player Chemar Holder will involve 64 matches.
It is reported that packages for the January 9 to February 5 tournament involving the group stages leading up to the quarter-finals, and the semi-finals and grand final are on offer with the successful bidders in line to feature on the world stage through “live” television and related media coverage.
Under-19 National trials
for 2022 ICC World Cup:
Sunday, April 11 -North/Tobago vs South East/South
Tuesday, April 13 -Central/South West vs East/North East
Thursday April 15 -North/Tobago vs Central/South West
Saturday, April 17 -South East/South/East/North East
Tuesday, April 20 -North/Tobago vs East/North East
Thursday, April 22 -South East/South vs Central/ South West
Saturday, April 24 -Best vs Best (North vs South)
