Veteran West Indies cricket commentator Joseph Reds Perreira is commending the performance of the regional team as they continue their participation in the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup in Namibia and Zimbabwe. The West Indies progressed to the Super Six stage of the tournament, where they won against Ireland on January 26.
Perreira’s praise came even before this victory, following a win against South Africa in the group stages. He applauded the batting efforts of the team, particularly the exploits of Zachary Carter, who scored a remarkable 114 runs off 104 deliveries, including eight fours and eight sixes.
“The hundred by Zachary Carter was very special. He reminds me of Clayton Lambert, the former Guyana and West Indies opener. He hits the ball really hard, strong on the on-side. 104 balls, eight fours and four sixes, and that was really an innings that kept the run rate well above five. One of the encouraging things is that we weren’t relying on Jewel Andrew again to do all the batting. In fact, he did not contribute, but he has already shown his class, and he is the most experienced batsman that we have in the squad. So the good thing is he is yet to come back and add to the strength of the batting. So the future looks very bright and very encouraging.
“Jonathan Van Lange showed that he stayed with Carter and put together a very important partnership. And I think that we have seen where the young opener, James Francis, would have scored a half-century in the opening game. So all of a sudden we’re not relying on two or three people, but the team is showing depth, and maybe there are more surprises to come.”
Perreira, who has been following Windies cricket for over half a century, also believes that the team has shown strength with the ball, noting: “There were some important contributions. Shaquan Belle with the ball, 6-40 off 10. That was really an outstanding performance by a young quickie. But there were some other interesting developments. Jaqueem Pollard, the left-arm medium pacer, who surprisingly didn’t play in the opening game, looks an excellent talent for the future, and I think he’s going to show his class a bit later on in the competition.”
With other exciting prospects like left-arm leg spinner Vitel Lawes, Perreira notes that the future looks promising. The West Indies will be hopeful that their strong start to the competition will continue to bear fruit as they strive to secure a second Under-19 World Cup title after a decade-long drought.
