PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Jayden Seales - WI Under 19 speedster ready to accelerate
After a stellar and spotlight-grabbing performance at the 2020 ICC Under 19 World Cup, West Indies U19 fastbowler Jayden Seales is looking forward to building on this momentum and serving the region in the sport he loves.
At the ICC Under 19 World Cup held in January and February, Seales thrilled fans around the world as he attained speeds of over 90mph on numerous occasions throughout the competition held in South Africa. He went on to amass a total of 10 wickets at an average of 18.3 in the six (6) West Indies matches played.
WATCH SEALES 4-WICKET HAUL IN HISTORIC MATCH UP vs AUSTRALIA U19. CLICK HERE!
Although the West Indies U-19 team missed out on the chance to compete in the tournament's Final match up, Seales' performance earned him ICC's nodd for Team of the Tournament, along with his teammate Nyeem Young.
Congrats to Jayden Seales and Nyeem Young who were both named in ICC's Team of the Tournament for the #U19CWC! 👏🏽👏🏽#FutureStars #ItsOurGame #WIU19
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) February 10, 2020
Read More: https://t.co/q06LBlzOmg pic.twitter.com/0IhfanDIaY
In an exclusive interview with Windies Cricket Instagram LIVE last week, Jayden reflected from his home in Trinidad:
“It was a great experience; being able to observe and learn other cultures, while being on the big stage, representing your country and the region, is an amazing feeling”.
Seales beamed that wearing the Maroon on the global stage gave him a great sense of pride:
“It was a dream come true. I was a little nervous at first, but once we got out into the middle, all I wanted to do was represent the West Indies to the best of my ability and I was ready to go.”
Back in March, Seales made the list of West Indies Emerging Players who were drafted into the 2020 Caribbean Premier League. The initiative, which is now in its second consecutive season, is aimed at presenting budding stars like Seales an opportunity to train and play with senior cricketers from around the world. Read more HERE.
While there's uncertainty surrounding details of this year's Biggest Party in Sport due to the current global pandemic, Seales is preparing to be a good steward of this opportunity and looks forward to learning as much as he can from West Indies and CPL veterans Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, when the time comes around.
“I wasn’t expecting a CPL selection this early, but I am very pleased. I’m currently training at home; doing as much fitness and strength work as I can. I am looking forward to the CPL, to get back to proper training and playing, with the main aim being to break into the Trinidad [and Tobago] Senior team in the near future.”
Jayden, like all other regional cricketers, is staying safe at home and following the established protocols in the fight against COVID .
When asked if he had any advice for youth cricketers of the Caribbean, who aspire to star in an ICC Under 19 World Cup one day, Jayden stated without missing a beat:
“Train hard, remain disciplined, stay humble, take advice and keep a leveled head"