Keemo Paul will be playing for the West Indies Under-19 when the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional Super 50 tournament commences on January 24 in Antigua.
The 18 year old, who was the vice-captain of the victorious West Indies U-19 team at the 2016 International Cricket Council (ICC) Youth World in Bangladesh, will make up the Regional youth side as one of the players, who will not feature in the 2018 Youth World Cup.
Paul, who was recently awarded best under-19 bowler by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) at its annual award ceremony, for his outstanding bowling effort for Guyana at the 2016 Regional U-19 tournament in St. Vincent, ended the tournament as the best all-rounder with 192 runs and 15 wickets. According to a source close to the WICB selection panel, the all-rounder was selected because the WICB wants to continue to nurture his talent with hope of him ascending to the highest level like they did with other outstanding youth players over the years. Additionally, he is still under 19 and though he will not be a part of the next Youth World Cup side, his vast experience will be valuable to the team.
Paul played in the last Regional Super 50 tournament with the West Indies U19s where he had returns of 15 runs from three matches while be bowled without capturing a scalp.
In December the WICB hosted a camp in Grenada to prepare a team for the Regional tournament, Paul was not included in the camp making his selection a surprise. However, two Guyanese in the likes of batting all-rounder Bhaskar Yadram and wicket keeper batsman Joshua Persaud, featured in that camp. Nevertheless it remains unknown if they have made the final cut for the Regional Super50. This year’s Super 50 which will also include English County side, Kent Spitfires will be separated into two groups with matches being played Antigua and Barbados.
Group A: Kent Spitfires, Leeward Islands Hurricanes, Trinidad & Tobago Red Force, West Indies U19s, Windward Islands Volcanoes.
Group B: Barbados Pride, Guyana Jaguars, CCC Marooners, Jamaica Scorpions, ICC Americas.
Trinidad and Tobago Red Force are the double defending champions after winning back to back titles at home in 2015 and 2016 when the tournamnet was sponsored by Nagico Insurance company.
