For the first time in the history of women’s cricket in the United States of America (USA) will the nation’s women’s U19 team play an overseas tournament. The USA women’s U19 team will travel to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in January to play four T20 matches against Windward Islands U19 Women’s team.
USA Women’s U19 squad: Geetika Kodali (Captain), Laasya Mullapudi (Vice-Captain), Anika Kumar, Bhumika Bhadriraju, Chetna Pagyadala, Disha Dhingra, Jivana Aras, Mitali Patwardhan (WK), Pooja Ganesh (WK), Ritu Singh, Sai Tanmayi Eyyunni, Snigdha Paul, Trisha Bhima, Tya Gonsalves, Yashaaditi Teki
Schedule
| Date | Day | Time (EST) | Match |
| January 24, 2022 | Monday | 9am | 1st T20 |
| January 25, 2022 | Tuesday | 12.30pm | 2nd T20 |
| January 27, 2022 | Thursday | 9am | 3rd T20 |
| January 28, 2022 | Friday | 9am | 4th T20 |
This tournament is a part of the long-term strategic partnership between the USA cricket and Windward Islands Cricket Board and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Cricket Association of West Indies. The USA Cricket have been working hard over the years to develop women’s cricket in the country. Their efforts have yielded rich dividends with the USA national women’s cricket team winning the ICC World T20 Americas Qualifiers and advancing to the global T20 World Cup Qualifiers. The team was also a part of the ICC World Cup Qualifiers that was played in Zimbabwe last month, however, the competition was abandoned due to the growing COVID-19 concerns.
For the first time ever, USA women’s U19 will travel to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in January to play 4 T20s against Windward Islands women’s U19.
• Schedule
1st T20: Jan 24
2nd T20: Jan 25
3rd T20: Jan 27
4th T20: Jan 28 pic.twitter.com/zf25bdQ0Ka— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 4, 2022
Expressing her delight about the upcoming tournament, Nadia Gruny, USA Cricket Board Member and Women and Girls Committee Chair, averred, “We are pleased to partner with the Windward Islands Cricket Board (WICB) and St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association to create a T20 series that would be mutually beneficial to both our under 19 teams. In line with our recently launched plan to Shape the Future for Women & Girls in American Cricket to ‘Create increased competitive international match opportunities’, this tour will present a fantastic opportunity for some of the young talents who have stood out on our new domestic pathway this year to get international exposure and a competitive level of cricket in the Caribbean. On behalf of the board, I thank St. Vincent and the Grenadines Government for the support of the development of women’s cricket in the region and everyone involved in helping to make this tour a reality in such a challenging time. Congratulations to all of the girls selected and we look forward to a successful tour.”
Just like Gruny, WICB President, Dr. Kishore Shallow is also looking forward to the tournament. He stated, “This exciting tour represents a shared vision of both USA Cricket and WICB to offer more development opportunities for female cricketers. We are grateful for the initiative and cooperation of USA Cricket to execute what I anticipate to be a fantastic series of competitive cricket.”
Richard Done, USA Cricket Operations Director, added, “USA Cricket is excited by the potential of our Under 19 group and the impact they are already having on our USA Women’s Team, most recently in Mexico and then in Zimbabwe. With women’s cricket a clear focus of the USA Cricket Foundational Plan, the future for women’s cricket in the USA is bright, and this tour will allow our next group of talented girls a chance to experience and learn more about traveling and playing internationally.”
The quotes are sourced from the website usacricket.org
I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.