Arnos Vale, St. Vincent – Training for the Windward Islands Male Senior Tournament is set to commence on March 3, 2020.
According to the SVGCA Chairman of Selectors, Roland Wilkinson, a squad would be selected by March 2nd to participate in a series of trial matches and training ahead of the Windwards tournament. The final team to represent St. Vincent and the Grenadines is expected to be announced by March 30th.
Similar to last year, there is a fitness criteria for selection. A score of 35 in the yo-yo test is confirmed as the requirement to gain selection in the final team. This is an increase from 30 last year. However, this remains below the fitness requirement at Cricket West Indies and Windward Islands level for professional cricketers.
President of SVGCA Inc., Dr. Kishore Shallow, justified the difference in Yo-Yo standard at the national level and regional level. “While the SVGCA executive body believes that 35 is quite practical at this level, we appreciate that our players are not in a professional set up as the regional players, and therefore decided to move to 40 on an incremental basis over 2 – 3 years,” explained Dr. Shallow.
Desron Maloney is one of the standout players who have benefited from the implementation of the fitness standard last year, having started at a mere 22, but met the 30 requirement just in time for selection. Maloney within 12 months has since gained selection on the Windward Volcanoes, scoring half-centuries on debuts in the Regional Super 50 and the ongoing 4-day tournament, respectively. Maloney’s last fitness test saw him achieved 43 in the Yo-Yo test.
The Windward Islands tournament is scheduled to take place April 17 – 24, 2020. The format will be 2-day.
The SVG Female Senior team recently captured the Windward Islands 50 overs championship.
