Best performers from UWI World Universities T20 tournament to train with CPL teams The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is continuing its support of aspiring young cricketers. Having signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of the West Indies (UWI) to support their efforts to give their students the best possible sporting opportunities, CPL will be inviting five cricketers who have excelled during the 2019 UWI Faculty of Sport (FoS) World Universities T20 Competition to join CPL franchises for their pre-tournament training camps. The teams which took part in this inaugural event were Combined Colleges and Campuses (CCC) the 2019 CWI Super50 champions, Tertiary Sports Association of Trinidad & Tobago (TSATT), University of the West Indies (UWI), USA Combined Universities (USA), Oxford MCCU (UK).

The criteria for selecting the players was as follows:

Batsman (player scoring most runs in the tournament)

Fast Bowler (fast bowler taking the most wickets in the tournament)

Spin Bowler (spin Bowler taking the most wickets in the tournament)

Wicket Keeper (keeper not necessarily having the most dismissals, but consideration should be given to positioning, technique, involvement in the game etc.)

Fielder (fieldsman not necessarily claiming the most catches but also consideration should be given to run outs effected, athleticism, throwing accuracy etc.

The players were selected on the basis of the following performances:

Best fast bowler

Jalarnie Searles (CCC) – 9 wkts @ 14.44 / SR 13.33 / Econ 6.50 / BB 3 for 13 (Assigned to Trinbago Knight Riders)

Best batsman

Christopher McBride (Oxford) – Matches 6 / Innings 6 / Runs 245 / 3 x 50s / HS 74 / Ave 40.83 / SR 136.87 (Assigned to Jamaica Tallawahs)

Best spinner

Dominic Clutterbuck (Oxford) – 11 wkts @ 15.45 / SR 14.73 / Econ 6.30 / BB 3 for 24 (Assigned to Barbados Tridents)

Best wicketkeeper

James Seward (Oxford) – 5 catches, 5 stumpings and 1 run out (Assigned to Guyana Amazon Warriors)

Best Fielder

Keron Cottoy (CCC) won the award for best fielder, and was selected in the player draft by the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, guaranteeing for himself even greater involvement in this year’s tournament

Michael Hall, Tournament Operations Director for CPL, said: “We are firmly committed to working with the University of the West Indies (UWI) to help unearth the next generation of cricketers who can go on to represent the region on the international stage. By creating this opportunity we hope to get more of our student / cricketers interested in playing at a higher level. After all, critical thinking is a key ingredient for success in sports as well as life.”

Daren Ganga, Project Officer at the UWI Faculty of Sport and LOC Chairman for the UWI World Universities T20 Tournament stated: "In the spirit of collaboration and development of sport in the region, the UWI Faculty of Sport has shown exactly how healthy relationships with sporting stakeholders like Cricket West Indies (CWI) and Caribbean Premier League (CPL) can contribute significantly towards building capacity in young people and advancing our sporting stock.

“The UWI Faculty of Sport blazed a trail with its inaugural World Universities T20 Cricket Tournament in January 2019 and intends to host said Tournament every two years with the blessings of all stakeholders in cricket. More significantly, with this inaugural tournament we created a real conduit for student athletes to effectively transition from amateurs into professional cricket. Student cricketers had the opportunity to compete in a professional university cricket tournament earlier this year, unknown talents were unearthed and as you can see, the very best performers were rewarded with opportunities to advance their cricket careers alongside CPL Franchises. Effectively, CPL, CWI and the UWI have improved the player development pathway in the region and strengthened the tertiary tier of cricket considerably with this initiative."