T&T and West Indies Under-19 spin bowler Bryan Charles had a memorable year, and is hoping for more success in 2014.
Charles recently returned from Bangladesh, after the West Indies U-19 team was forced to abort the tour after one match, due to security reasons. Charles is not wasting the free time, as he is currently doing physical and net sessions with the national senior team at the National Cricket Centre in Couva.
At the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) U-19 Regional tournament in July and August, Charles finished the tournament as the leading wicket-taker, ending with 43 wickets overall in the 50-over and three-day competitions.
Shortly after the WICB tournament, Charles was invited to the Saqlain Mushtaq spin bowling clinic in Barbados for current and emerging West Indies cricketers. He said the former Pakistan off-spinner taught him learnt a lot at the camp and Charles believes he has improved. Charles will like to continue improving on his game for the upcoming year. He stated "I want to work on my batting and more consistency in my bowling."
Charles graduated from Presentation College, Chaguanas this year and learned how to balance cricket and sports with support from his parents and teachers. "It was a bit diffficult, but my teachers helped me." He also did one-on-one work with his teachers at lunch time, and the sacrifice paid off as UWI accepted him to do a Bachelor's Degree in Economics, which he plans to begin in 2014. The spin bowler's first goal of the new year is to make the final squad for the ICC Dubai U-19 World Cup in February. Charles said the West Indies U-19 team plans to get together soon to continue the World Cup preparations. "Most likely we will have a camp in Barbados early next year," he said.
Charles is also looking forward to the National League cricket season, as his club Preysal earned promotion to the premier (top) division.