St. Vincent, Arnos Vale – The Windward Islands Cricket Board (WICB) remained steadfast in its commitment to the continuous advancement of youth cricket throughout the Windward Islands.
At the Annual General Meeting of the Board held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on May 10th 2024, a decision was made to accelerate youth development by implementing three specific programmes: Boys Under-13, Girls Under-16, and Men’s Under 23.
The Under-13 programme will culminate in a limited overs competition between the Windward Islands’ U-13 team and the Trinidad & Tobago Under13 team. This competition will be played in Grenada during August 2024 with a return leg to Trinidad & Tobago in 2025. The programme will be led by Head Coach, Troy George and managed by Junior Derose.
The Under-16 girls and the Under-23 men’s programmes will commence in the latter part of 2024; both of which will widen the pool of talented young girls and young men. The Under 16 programme will be led by Head Coach Samantha Lynch and managed by Rosie Preville. The Under 23 programme will culminate with two separate Windward Islands Under 23 tournaments where St. Vincent and the Grenadines will play a mini-series against Grenada, while Dominica plays against St. Lucia.
President of the WICB, Mr. Dwain Gill, remarked that the Board recognized the importance of harnessing young talent, and so, made the decision to accelerate youth development through the implementation of the three programmes. He further added that the programmes were in keeping with the strategic objectives of Cricket West Indies (CWI) to promote and strengthen the cricketing talent-pathways in all the territorial boards and that the Windward Islands intend to stay ahead of the curb with the recent success of all of its competitive teams.
The AGM also benefited from a comprehensive presentation by Mr Miles Bascombe, Director of Cricket at CWI. Mr Bascombe spoke primarily about the roles of the territorial boards towards the development of West Indies Cricket, and how CWI intended to charter this development.
As an adjunct to the AGM, the Board participated in a discussion on corporate governance. This discussion was driven by a presentation by Mrs Debra Coryat-Patton – a nonmember director on the Board of CWI and an attorney at law with many years of experience working in the field of corporate governance.
The following are the summarized appointments made by the Board:
- Male U13 Team Management –
- Mr. Junior DeRose was appointed Manager.
- Mr. Troy George was appointed Coach.
- Male U15 Team Management –
- Mr. Paul Johnson Richardson was reappointed Manager.
- Mr. Dalton Polius was appointed Coach.
- Female U16 Team Management –
- Ms. Rosie Preville was appointed Manager.
- Ms. Samantha Lynch was appointed Coach
- Male U17 Team Management –
- Mr. Samuel Holder was reappointed Manager.
- Mr. Clyde Telesford was also reappointed Coach.
- Female U19 Team Management –
- Mr. Cleton Burnett was reappointed Coach
- Ms. Kimara Hurtault was reappointed Manager
- Male U19 Team Management –
- Mr. Garey Mathurin was reappointed Coach.
- Mr. Randel Baptiste was again appointed manager
- Male & Female Senior Teams
- Mr Kenroy Peters remains the Head Coach of the Professional Team (Windwards Volcanoes)
- The Board will undergo a recruitment drive to fill coach and management positions of the Senior Women’s Team
