Sixteen year-old Kittitian Cricketer, Jahzara Claxton has been named in the West Indies Women’s U19 Rising Stars squad for the ICC Women’s U19 T20 World Cup which will be held in South Africa in January 2023.
Claxton who was recently awarded as one of 25 Remarkable Teens is a well known sporting figure in St. Kitts.
Jahzara, who hails from Sandy Point, is an accomplished track and field athlete, and an international player for St Kitts and Nevis in Senior Women’s football.
She earned her selection based on her performances while playing for the Leeward Islands U19 earlier this year.
Cricket West Indies’(CWI) Selection Panel on Thursday named the 15-member West Indies Women’s Under 19s Rising Stars squad for the competition set for January 2023.
The squad will be led by batting all-rounder Ashmini Munisar who captained the team on their tours to the USA in August and last month in India.
Lead Selector Mrs. Ann Browne-John said: “The Under 19 girls T20 World Cup will be an historic event being the first of its kind in women’s international cricket. In preparation for this the team embarked on tours of the USA and the recent Tri Series in India against the hosts and New Zealand. These series have identified some competent up and coming batters like Djenaba Joseph, Shunelle Sawh and Trishan Holder who are showing potential to transition to a higher level. We also had excellent performances from the two main spinners, captain Ashmini Munisar and Shalini Samaroo.”
She added: “We’ve held training camps over the past few months and the preparation will culminate with a final camp to be held in Antigua this month. This international exposure would no doubt be extremely beneficial, not only to this group of players, but also serve as an investment and feeder group into the senior West Indies Women’s set up.”
Captain Ashmini Munisar expressed her happiness in being selected to lead the squad, “It is every cricketer’s dream to play for their country let alone be able to captain their team, it is an immense honour that I get to do it at this historic inaugural ICC Women’s U19 World Cup. We have been playing together for the past few months and all the players are gelling and progressing quite nicely and we’re all excited to represent the West Indies.”
The ICC Women’s U19 T20 World Cup will feature 41 matches be played from 14 to 29 January in South Africa.
The official warm-up matches will be from 9 to 11 January. The 16 participating teams will play in four groups in the preliminary round. West Indies have been drawn in Group C alongside New Zealand, Ireland, and Indonesia.
WEST INDIES WOMEN UNDER 19s RISING STARS SQUAD
- Ashmini Munisar (captain)
- Asabi Callendar
- Jahzara Claxton
- Naijanni Cumberbatch
- Earnisha Fontaine
- Jannillea Glasgow
- Realanna Grimmond
- Trishan Holder
- Zaida James
- Djenaba Joseph
- K D Jazz Mitchell
- Shalini Samaroo
- Shunelle Sawh
- Lena Scott
- Abini St Jean
GROUPS
Group A: Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, USA
Group B: England, Pakistan, Rwanda, Zimbabwe
Group C: Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand, West Indies
Group D: India, Scotland, South Africa, UAE
GROUP C – WEST INDIES MATCH SCHEDULE
Sunday January 15: vs Ireland at NW University, Potchefstroom – 4am Eastern Caribbean/3am Jamaica
Tuesday January 17: vs Indonesia at NW University, Potchefstroom – 7:45am Eastern Caribbean/6:45am Jamaica
Thursday January 19: vs New Zealand, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom – 7:45am Eastern Caribbean/6:45am Jamaica
Full tournament schedule here
