Barbados’ triumph in the recently concluded West Indies Rising Stars Women’s Under-19 Championship has earned five of their standout players promotion to higher duty.
Team captain Theanny Herbert-Mayers, Asabi Callender, NaiJanni Cumberbatch, Eboni Brathwaite and Sabriel Headley were absent from the celebratory welcome at the Grantley Adams International Airport on Sunday, as they have joined training camps for the senior West Indies Women’s team and the West Indies Under-19 Women’s squad.
Nineteen-year-old Callender, the tournament’s third-highest run scorer with 97 runs, is now training with the senior West Indies Women’s team in Antigua and Barbuda.
Meanwhile, Cumberbatch, the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 17 dismissals, remains in Trinidad and Tobago along with Herbert-Mayers, Brathwaite, and Headley, to prepare for the upcoming Youth T20 International series against the United States from July 26 to August 3.
Barbados clinched their first title in the competition’s history with a seven-wicket victory over the Leeward Islands on Saturday.
Head coach Robin Parris credited the Barbados Cricket Association’s (BCA) Young Gems programme for the team’s success. The initiative targets girls aged seven to 18 and aims to discover and nurture talent.
“I’m always preaching the pathway system, depending on how far you want to go,” he said.
“The pathway system of the Young Gems targets primary schools, secondary schools and girls who are interested in cricket — trying to let them see that there is a career in cricket. This win is dedicated to the Young Gems to show them the way that they can develop into players,” Parris added.
He pointed to players like Jadaeya Holder and Zoe McCallister, both of whom started in the Young Gems programme and have progressed to the Under-19 level.
“So they are evidence that the Young Gems programme is working. They’ve graduated up to Under-19s, so that’s the path that we want to go,” the coach said.
Parris also heaped praise on new skipper Herbert-Mayers who, at just 16 years old, was appointed captain despite external concerns about her selection over more senior players.
“Theanny was a new captain, but she’s been with the squad playing regional Under-19 five [or] six years now, so that transition was not difficult at all,” he said. “I’ve known Theanny for a long time now so that process was easy. She took it very smartly, not to mind the little comments on the side. The team took it in stride and we did well.”
The BCA coach said the time spent doing team building exercises and team bonding was important to the team’s great morale and positive team spirit.
