3 weeks ago
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The 2025 West Indies Rising Stars Under-19 Women’s 35-over tournament, held in Trinidad and Tobago from July 8 to 19, gave players, especially batters, more overs and time to display their skills. A total of 18 matches were scheduled, including the final, the third and fourth, and the fifth and sixth playoff matches. Three games were cancelled due to rain. Additionally, two matches at the National Cricket Centre [NCC] were abandoned without a ball being bowled because of the heavy outfield.
Despite the organisers’ strategic intent, only Jamaica, in their third-round match against Trinidad and Tobago, played the full 35 overs. Jamaica scored 155 for 9 wickets, and in response, Trinidad and Tobago was dismissed for 99 runs, losing by 56 runs. The 254 runs scored in the match were the highest combined score of the tournament. Two other scores over 100 runs included the Leeward Islands’ 120 for no loss in 20.3 overs against Trinidad and Tobago in a game cut to 28 overs due to rain and Barbados’ 119 all out in 25.1 overs of their 35 scheduled overs against Guyana. In reply, Guyana was bowled out for just 21 runs, the lowest score in the tournament. Barbados’ 98-run victory was the largest margin of victory by runs in the tournament.
It is concerning that out of 12 games where all 35 overs could have been played, only one team took full advantage of the opportunity. The tournament’s poor batting performance carried over into the West Indies Women’s U19 and USA Women’s U19 T20 bilateral series, which finished yesterday at the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Ground, UWI, St. Augustine Campus. In the third game, chasing the USA’s 104 runs to win, the West Indies were dismissed for 81 runs. In the fourth game, batting first, the West Indies U19 scored only 89 runs for 8 wickets in 20 overs, with Eboni Brathwaite making 53—the only player to reach double figures.
Sainavi Kambalapalli from the USA, who played for the Leeward Islands, was the tournament’s top scorer with 167 runs in 5 innings, including a high score of 62 not out in a rain-affected match against Trinidad and Tobago.
She also hit 25 fours, the most by any batter in the tournament. Abigail Bryce from Jamaica was the second-highest scorer with 130 runs, with a top score of 62, and hit 15 fours. Asabi Callender scored a total of 97 runs with 17 fours and was one of only three players to score over fifty runs, with a notable 52 not out against Jamaica in the fourth round.
Callender and Jahzara Claxton, who scored 78 runs, were the third and fourth highest run-scorers in the tournament. Neither Callender nor Claxton will be eligible for the third edition of the ICC U-19 Women’s World Cup in Nepal and Bangladesh in 2027, and therefore, they were not part of the West Indies team for the bilateral series against the USA.
Off-spinner Naijanni Cumberbatch (Barbados) was the leading wicket-taker with 17 wickets for 65 runs at an average of 3.82. In the game against Guyana, she took 6 wickets for 7 runs in 5 overs. Trinidad and Tobago’s captain for the 2025 series, Brianna Harricharan, finished second among wicket-takers with 13 wickets with her leg-spin. Off-spinner Erin Deane (Barbados) finished third, taking 11 wickets, the same as Sainavi Kambalapalli. Among the top ten bowlers, seven were spinners. Windward Island’s right-arm fast bowler Selena Ross ended fifth with 10 wickets.
In comparison, Amrita Ramtahal (Trinidad and Tobago) ranked ninth with 8 wickets, and Guyana’s right-arm medium-fast bowler Tiea Isaacs finished tenth with 7 wickets. A shortage of fast bowlers is another concerning sign, not only at the U19 level but also at the senior level. If the West Indies wants to be competitive against the top teams, it needs a squad of fast bowlers to support its spinners.
The poor batting performances are a serious cause for concern. The batters failed to capitalise on the opportunity to bat longer and score heavily. Three scores of 50 or more are unacceptable and disconcerting. Furthermore, poor batting skills can misrepresent bowlers’ actual skill level, especially when they face top batters from India, Australia, South Africa, and England. The West Indies Women U19 teams, with Zaida James, Djenaba Joseph, Samara Ramnath, Asabi Callender, Ashmini Munisar, Jahzara Claxton, Realeanna Grimmond, Trishan Holder, and Jannillea Glasgow, struggled against fellow established cricket nations such as New Zealand, England, South Africa, India, Australia, and Bangladesh in the first two editions of the ICC U19 Women’s World Cup in 2023 and 2025, respectively. In 2023, the West Indies were also beaten by an Associate member, Rwanda, by 4 wickets, similar to when Kenya defeated the West Indies by 73 runs in the 1996 ICC 50-over World Cup. Since the first World Cup in South Africa, India, England, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa have increased their investment in youth development to compete competitively and transition smoothly into their respective ‘A’ and senior national teams.
The performances in this year’s regional U19 35-over tournament do not demonstrate ongoing improvement since the first World Cup in 2023. It fails to inspire confidence for the upcoming 3rd ICC T20 U19 Women’s World Cup in less than two years. Therefore, any discussion about the current state of West Indies cricket must include women’s cricket.
English (US) ·