WICB get numbers wrong for Youth World Cup

Someone at the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has got the numbers for the Youth World Cup wrong again.

Last time, it was the Under-19 age limit for the 1998 tournament in South Africa when it was discovered that seven players were too old and had to be replaced at the last moment.

Now, its the size of the team for 2000 event in Sri Lanka, starting January 11.

Chairman of selectors Joel Garner said yesterday his panel was instructed to pick 15. It turns out 14 is the number stipulated by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

So one young cricketer will have to be disappointed when Garner and his panel are obliged to trim their originally chosen squad because of another administrative bungle.

It is difficult to understand how it could have happened. While squads for the senior World Cup in England last summer were regulated to 15, those for the youth equivalent in 1998 numbered 14.

The team was chosen in August after the annual Nortel Youth Championships in Barbados.

The 16 teams have been divided into four preliminary round groups of four each with the top two after the round-robin stage advancing to the Super League and the bottom two going into a Plate Championship.

The West Indies have been drawn in the same preliminary group as England, Zimbabwe and the Americas (Bermuda, Canada and the United States combined).

Three days have been fixed for warm-up games scheduled for January 7-9, while the opening ceremony will be held on January 10.

Ryan Hinds (captain, Barbados), Marlon Samuels (vice-captain, Jamaica), Carlitos Lopez, Kurt Wilkinson (Barbados), Brenton Parchment, Jermaine Lawson, Andrew Richardson (Jamaica), Sewnarine Chattergoon, Narsingh Deonarine, Roopnarine Ramgobin (Guyana), Zaheer Ali, Rodney Sooklal (Trinidad & Tobago), Greg Francois, Camilus Alexander, Kenroy Peters (Windward Islands). Manager: Alvin Bynoe (Windward Islands). Coach: Gus Logie