USA Cricket are incredibly pleased to announce a historic inaugural international tour for the USA Women’s Under 19s team as they are set to travel to the Caribbean next month to play against Windward Islands U19 Women’s team in a series of four Twenty20 matches. The Windward Islands comprise the islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, St. Lucia and Dominica.
In partnership with both the Windward Islands Cricket Board and the St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Cricket Association, this tour is part of the wider long-term strategic partnership that USA Cricket has with Cricket West Indies (CWI), our nearest Full Member Nation of the ICC.
This tour is the culmination of a huge year for the Women and Girls game in the United States, with the newly launched domestic pathway, the Sistar Mortgage Women’s National Championships (Senior Women’s and Under 19) alongside the successful ICC T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier in Mexico and the recently-abandoned ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe. The Windward Islands tour is another demonstration of the progress made on our USA Cricket Foundational Plan’s strategic focus on Women & Girls.
USA Cricket Board Member and Women and Girls Committee Chair, Nadia Gruny said, “We are pleased to partner with the Windward Islands Cricket Board (WICB) and the 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 talent 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 the 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.”
WICB President, Dr. Kishore Shallow said, “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.”
USA Cricket Operations Director, Richard Done 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 travelling and playing internationally.”
Geetika Kodali will captain the first ever USA Women’s Under 19 team to undertake an overseas tour
The selected U19 squad does not include several of the U19 players who participated in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier (WCQ) in Zimbabwe. The WCQ was abandoned due to the identification of Omicron, the new Covid variant and growing travel restrictions on passengers coming from Southern Africa countries, including Zimbabwe.
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
U19 Head Coach: Asif Mujtaba
Selection Panel: Ritesh Kadu (Interim Chair), Jyotsna Patel, Deepali Rokade
Match Schedule
Monday January 24 – 1st T20 @ 9:00am EST
Tuesday January 25 – 2nd T20 @ 12:30pm EST
Wednesday January 26 – Rest
Thursday January 27 – 3rd T20 @ 9:00am EST
Friday January 28 – 4th T20 @ 9:00am EST
NB – St. Vincent local time is 1 hour ahead of EST