Left-arm spinners Joshua Bishop and Ashmead Nedd are eagerly looking forward to their first taste of first-class action, as they prepare for the Headley Weekes Tri-Series which gets underway on Wednesday.
Bishop and Nedd, are both 22 and have been named in the West Indies Academy squad. They face Team Headley in the first of three four-day matches at Coolidge Cricket Ground. First ball daily is 10am (9am Jamaica).
“We just look at it as an opportunity to put ourselves against more experienced players that have been around for quite a while and test out ourselves,” Bishop told CWI Media. “I’m definitely looking forward to it, from CG United Super50 [last November]. We had a fairly decent tournament but I’m really looking forward to the four-day challenge.”
Bishop led the Academy’s attack during the CG United Super50 with eight wickets, while Nedd finished with five wickets at an economy rate of just over four runs. Overall, Bishop has taken 40 wickets in 28 List A games while Nedd has claimed 22 from 17 appearances. Both have also played in the Caribean Premier Leagues regional T20 tournament.
“I’m also looking forward to the challenge,” said Nedd. “It will be the first time I’m playing four-day cricket, so it’s a good feeling to be playing four-day, first class cricket. It will be an enjoyable two weeks.”
Bishop and Nedd will be part of a unit which also includes: Kirk McKenzie, Kevlon Anderson, Keagan Simmons, Ackeem Auguste, Teddy Bishop, Tevin Imlach, Kevin Wickham and Ramon Simmonds, all of whom have already played first class cricket.
They will come up against a Team Headley side led by West Indies wicket-keeper Joshua Da Silva and including Darren Bravo, Kieran Powell and Shayne Moseley who have already played at the Test level.
“There are a few players that we know keenly well from the other teams … so it’s just for us to do our homework and share it with the rest of the team,” Nedd said.
All matches in the Headley Weekes Tri-Series will be streamed LIVE on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel with live scorecards and ball-by-ball scoring on the Windiescricket.com live match centre.
SQUADS
West Indies Academy: Kevlon Anderson, Ackeem Auguste, Joshua Bishop, Teddy Bishop, McKenny Clarke, Tevin Imlach, Joshua James, Johann Layne, Kirk McKenzie, Ashmead Nedd, Kelvin Pitman, Keagan Simmons, Ramon Simmonds, Kevin Wickham, Nyeem Young
Team Headley: Joshua Da Silva (captain), Sunil Ambris, Darren Bravo, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Chaim Holder, Akeem Jordan, Marquino Mindley, Shayne Moseley, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Kieran Powell, Tevyn Walcott.
FULL MATCH SCHEDULE
19-22 April: Team Headley v West Indies Academy
26-29 April: Team Weekes v West Indies Academy
3-6 May: Team Weekes v Team Headley
