Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer
As Jamaica prepare to host the inaugural West Indies Under-19 Female Cricket Championship, the Jamaica Women's Cricket Association announced a strong 14-member squad, headed by Stefanie Taylor.
Taylor, along with Jodian Morgan and Shanel Daley, represented Jamaica in the senior West Indies Women's Cricket Tournament in St. Lucia earlier this year.
The three were also selected to the West Indies Under-21 team and along with Rashana Outar, who played for Jamaica in the last Under-23 tournament held in Trinidad and Tobago last December, are the ones Jamaica will be depending heavily on to carry the workload.
Boys' team
Taylor is the only female to play in two ISSA-run high school competitions. The Eltham High student played along with the boys' team, which won the all-island Under-14 title in 2005 and the all-island Under-16 team earlier this year.
She was also a member of the Jamaica team, which won the inaugural West Indies double wicket title earlier this year.
The Jamaican selectors also named Chris-Ann Chambers of Our Lady of the Angels Prep and New Berry Club, and Melanie Robinson of Mary Mount High and St. Mary Parish to the President's XI team, which comprises players from St. Vincent, Guyana and Grenada.
The inaugural championship will be staged in Jamaica from August 10 -19 and the hosts are set to open against St. Lucia at Port Esquivel on August 12. Barbados will face Trinidad & Tobago at University of Technology (UTech) in the day's other game.
The tournament will be played on a league format and is 40-overs per side and begins at 9:30 a.m. on match days.
Jamaica squad:
Stafanie Taylor (captain), Eltham High/Kingston & St. Andrew Club, Phillipa Badroe (Oracabessa High/St.Mary Parish); Kimberley Simms (Oracabessa High/St. Mary Parish); Jodian Morgan (Tarrant High/New Berry Club); Shanel Daley (Dunoon Tech/New Berry); Keneshia Ferron (Donald Quarrrie/New Berry); Jody-Ann Brown (St. Hugh's/New Berry); Claudine Beckford (Dunoon Tech/New Berry); Rashana Outar (St. Catherine High/New Berry); Abbie-Gaye Hendricks (St. Catherine High/New Berry); Shanique Cox McGrath/New Berry); Chanae Cox (Jericho Primary/New Berry); Mishka Whyte (Tarrant Primary/New Berry); Shauna-Kay Edwards (Ewarton Primary/New Berry).
