Young batting sensation, Stephan Pascal, feels elated to have been named as the captain of the national under-19 cricket team. Pascal, who has dominated with the bat at the school level over the last few years, will lead Dominica’s charge in the 2023 Windward Islands Cricket Board WINLOTT INC Under 19 cricket tournament which is carded to bow off in St. Lucia from April 16 and will conclude five days later. The 50 overs per side tournament will see the finest young talent in the sub-region on display.
Pascal, who is no stranger to this tournament, believes that his team’s chances are looking good. In an exclusive interview with Nature Isle News (NIN), Pascal spoke of the privilege given to him to lead the side.
“It is always an honor to be elected as the captain of any team much less to be the captain of the national team. It is a wonderful feeling and I do not believe that I would pass that for anything else” he said beaming with pride.
Pascal, who recently returned to the island after a stint with the Cricket West Indies High-Performance Academy in Antigua, is of the view that the unit has put in the necessary work which will lead to success.
“In terms of the chances of the team, I feel that we have a very well-rounded team. Our bowling has always been our strong point even from last year and the batting has improved. It is just that we need to work on decision-making.
“The preparation for the tournament this year has been good. We have been in training for the past 2-3 months doing various fitness and skills work. This time around, we have been involved in a lot of practice games so that is a good sign because we have not had a lot of practice matches in the past leading into this sort of tournament,” Pascal, who has scored seven centuries in his young career to date observed.
The batting will heavily be dependent on Pascal and he is determined not to disappoint.
“First of all, I would like to lead the team to victory since it has been a long while. That would feel good and secondly, I would like to finish the tournament as the top runs scorer. I feel that is what I need to do at this stage in my cricket and I need to dominate. There is the ICC Under 19 World Cup and I want to be involved in that. I do not only want to be involved but to be a big performer there as well,” he stated as he spoke of his future plans.
Yawani Regis, Edmund Morancie, and Jelani Joseph are some of the players expected to provide valuable support. In last year’s tournament, Morancie was named Dominica’s MVP.
Dominica finished third in the tournament last year. The full squad reads Stepahn Pascal, Lluvio Charles, Tehj Daniel, Joel Durand, Kyne George, Jayden Joseph, Jelani Joseph, Tyrese Leblanc, Edmund Morancie, Kyron Phillip, Yawani Regis, Dionne Rolle, and Jahson Vidal.
The team will be coached by Ray Casimir with Vincent Lewis serving as the assistant coach. Veteran administrator, Alick Rapha will manage the unit.
The team will open its campaign on April 16th against the home team at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground. The second encounter will be played on April 17th against St. Vincent and the Grenadines in Gros Islet. The team’s final preliminary round match will be played against Grenada on April 19th at Gros Islet. The top two teams will advance to the championship match on April 21 at the DSGC while 3rd and 4th placed teams will battle for 3rd position at Gros Islet on the same day.
The Dominica team is expected to leave the island for St. Lucia on Friday, 14th April 2023. The tournament is being sponsored by WINLOTT INC and matches will bowl off from 9:30 am daily.
Nature Isle News wishes the players every success at this tournament.