An 18-man West Indies U19 squad was announced on Friday for a six-match limited overs tour of England next month.

Selected by the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Rising Stars Selection Panel led by Robert Haynes, the squad will be led Ackeem Auguste with Giovonte Depeiza as vice-captain. Auguste is a left-handed top-order batsman, who scored two centuries during recent intra-squad matches while Depeiza is a left-arm spinner and right-handed middle-order batsman.

The squad was selected following an eight-match trials series with 60 players. From there the squad was reduced to 26 players who were then involved in more intensive targeted high performance coaching and simulation sessions.

The full squad comprises Captain Ackeem Auguste, 17; Vice-Captain Giovonte Depeiza,18; Onaje Amory, 17; Anderson Amurdan, 18; Justin Beckford, 17; Teddy Bishop, 18; Carlon Bowen-Tuckett, 17; McKenny Clarke,18; Rivaldo Clarke, 18; Nathan Edward,16; Andel Gordon, 18; Sion Hackett, 18; Justin Jagessar, 16; Johann Layne, 17; Anderson Mahase, 18; Matthew Nandu, 18; Isai Thorne, 16; and Vasant Singh,17.

Lead selector Haynes said there is a lot of quality in the squad that is being honed for the World Cup in 2022.

“This trip to England is part of the preparation for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup next year and will prove valuable experience for these young men. We have a very good combination, and it is really pleasing to see we have quality all-round cricketers in the group, which gives us more options,” he said.

“The conditions in England will be challenging, and they know that, but they have fantastic management support in the set-up, including Sir Curtly Ambrose whose experience and knowledge will be an asset.”

Haynes said that such was the nature of the talent assembled for the camp, selecting a final 18 proved to be quite difficult.

“We started the selection process four weeks ago with 60 talented youngsters from all across the region. It wasn’t easy cutting the squad down but if you look at the balance in the bowling attack we have now selected, with six fast bowlers and three specialist spinners, you can see we have selected a quality attack,” he said.

“We also have some naturally gifted batsman who we expect to perform well. The work that everyone has put in to get these guys here to this level has been exceptional.”

Meanwhile, Rohan Nurse will lead the coaching staff as the Acting Head Coach as Floyd Reifer is unavailable due to prior contractual arrangements with the Caribbean Premier League.

The tour will feature six Youth One-Day Internationals at The County Ground, Beckenham and The Polo Farm, Canterbury from Saturday, September 4 to Friday, September 17.

The match schedule is listed below:

Saturday, September 4: 1st Youth ODI – Beckenham

Monday, September 6: 2nd Youth – Beckenham

Wednesday, September 8: 3rd Youth ODI – Beckenham

Friday, September 10: 4th Youth ODI – Canterbury

Tuesday, September 14: 5th Youth ODI – Canterbury

Friday, September 17: 6th Youth ODI – Canterbury