Maroochydore Cricket Club on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast will be the next stop on the road to the Under-19 World Cup for Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, Japan and Indonesia. From February 6 to 11 the club will host a 50-over round-robin tournament, with the top two teams earning a spot at the World Cup qualifiers to be held in Ireland later in the year.

“This will be a fantastic opportunity for the Australian public to witness some of the amazing International talent that other countries in our region are producing,” said ICC East Asia-Pacific Regional Development Manager Andrew Faichney.

“Preparation of the grounds began during October and the aim is to produce our customary first class pitches for all the ICC Trophy matches,” added Maroochydore club secretary Mike Burke.

Club President Mark Hall and Burke have had meetings with local Council and report that the whole region is honoured to play a part in making the occasion a memorable and enjoyable experience for all. “Make no mistake, ICC international teams & officials will all receive the world-renowned Sunshine Coast welcome,” said Burke.

The cricket club also has the challenge of feeding the teams on match days and Burke says his club has great experience in provided touring teams with quality food. “Maroochydore Cricket Club chef, Donna Boland, has been excitedly experimenting with dishes designed to please the diverse, multi-cultural palates of our upcoming guests,” he said.

The teams will also be playing a series of warm-up Twenty20 matches on February 4 at the Yandina Cricket Club.

USA’s preparations for the ICC Under-19 World Cup came unstuck as they were beaten by Hong Kong in a warm-up match. Afgahnistan, who beat Hong Kong earlier in the week, lost to a Canterbury A team, while Canada lost to an Auckland XI.

USA only managed 182 for 9 after they chose to bat, their efforts not aided by three run outs. Hong Kong raced to 186 for 4 in 32.2 overs with captain Jamie Atkinson blasting 100 off 86 deliveries. He added 156 at almost a run-a-ball with Ashish Gadhia (59).

Afghanistan went down to a five-wicket loss to Canterbury A, being bowled out for 169 after a promising start. Canterbury eased to victory in 32.2 overs, opener Kereyn Ambler leading the way with 70 off 77 balls.

Auckland XI made 171 for 6 in a match reduced to 33 overs-a-side by rain. Canada struggled to keep on top of a stiff asking rate and finished on 148 for 7, although a fifty from Ruvindu Gunasekara gave them some cause for optimism.

This was the last round of unofficial warm-ups as the teams all head to Christchurch for the tournament’s official opening on Sunday. Two days of official warm-ups follow before the first batch of proper games on Friday, January 15.

The most talented young players in Associate and Affiliate cricket gather in Toronto this week in an attempt to qualify for the 2010 Under-19 World Cup, staged in New Zealand.

While the opportunity of competing against the best young squads from larger nations, such as Australia and India, is at the forefront of the players' ambitions, the tournament gives them a chance to impress and perhaps even press for a place in the senior team. Ireland's Paul Stirling, a highly regarded left-hander, turns 19 September 3 and displayed his potential during his senior side's three-run defeat to England on Thursday, cracking 30 from 26.

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Papua New Guinea are the East Asia-Pacific Under-19 champions after they beat Vanuatu by 172 runs in the final at Amini Park, Port Moresby.

PNG won the toss and elected to bat in overcast conditions and scored freely early on, reaching 24 without loss before Lega Tau was well caught by Karl Laau from the bowling of Niko Unavalu. Heni Siaka was hitting everything in the middle, and started to free his arms, ably supported by middle-order batsmen Tony Ura (27) and Jason Kila (48).

The talented Siaka scored his maiden century for PNG, by far the best innings of the tournament. He was eventually dismissed for 101, but by then the damage had been done and PNG raced towards a huge total, batting their full 50 overs reaching 276 for 8.

It was to take a monumental effort by Vanuatu to chase down these runs, and early on the fielding talents of PNG rose to the fore, with two magnificent run-outs reducing Vanuatu to 31 for 2. They fought on valiantly before they were eventually dismissed for 103 after 34 overs. Jason Kila was the chief destroyer with 4 for 20.

In the battle for 3rd place at Colts Ground, Fiji beat Indonesia by six wickets in a game affected by rain.

PNG and Vanuatu will head to Canada to participate in the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

ICC staff

Cricket Kenya has dismissed criticism in some sections of the media following the poor performance of the Under-19 side in the recently concluded Africa Championship. Kenya, who will host the U-19 World Cup in 2010, finished fourth.

“It’s easy to snipe, but the side was without the bulk of the first-choice players,” a board official told Cricinfo. “The tournament was scheduled in the middle of school exams, and many of the boys’ parents, understandably, refused to allow their sons to miss those to take part. Given we are already guaranteed a spot [at the World Cup] it was hardly a make-or-break event.”

The top two teams - Uganda and Sierra Leone – progressed to the next stage of the qualification process for the U-19 World Cup, but Kenya automatically get a place as hosts.

Uganda and Sierra Leone booked their places in the Under-19 World Cup qualifying tournament later this year after finishing first and second in the Africa Under-19 Championship in Zambia. They will join Afghanistan, Hong Kong and the top two teams from the Americas, East Asia-Pacific and Europe regions in a play-off, from which the top five teams from that tournament will join the ten ICC Full Members and hosts Kenya in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup.

Uganda and Sierra Leone met in the final round of matches, and it was Uganda who won a rain-affected game despite being bowled out for 91. Chasing a revised target of 83 in 20 overs, Sierra Leone lost too many wickets too quickly and only managed 35 for 8, Geofrey Nyero returning remarkable figures of 6 for 7.

That result meant that Namibia could have overtaken Sierra Leone with an emphatic win over the hugely disappointing Kenyans, but after they had posted 158 for 7, the match was abandoned six overs into Kenya's reply. The one point Namibia earned was not enough.

Hosts Zambia finished fourth thanks to a 63-run win over Tanzania, but again the weather meant the game was decided by Duckworth-Lewis calculations. Zambia made 133 and Tanzania struggled to 42 for 7 before the rain returned.

Nigeria showed why they finished bottom without a win as they were dismissed for 68 by Botswana, who went on to amble to a six-wicket win.

               P   W  NR   L   Pts      NRR 

Uganda         7   6   0   1    12     -0.31

Sierra Leone   7   5   0   2    10      1.18

Namibia        7   4   1   2     9      0.83

Zambia         7   4   0   3     8      0.10

Kenya          7   3   1   3     7     -0.22

Botswana       7   3   0   4     6     -0.44

Tanzania       7   2   0   5     4     -0.43

Nigeria        7   0   0   7     0     -1.36

Sierra Leone continue to surprise opponents and followers of the Africa Under-19 Championship in topping the table. After the fifth day they are joint-first with Namibia on eight points, but with a superior net run-rate, thanks to another win over Zambia by 85 runs. Chasing 177 Zambia were skittled for 91 with Ibrahim Kabia picking up 3 for 8. Elsewhere, Namibia thrashed Nigeria by ten wickets while Kenya – who are in a disappointing fourth position – beat Tanzania by 19 runs. Uganda pulled off a thrilling one-wicket win over Botswana when they rather underestimated their target of 114, losing nine wickets – three of them to Waseem Tajbhai. Their last pair saw them across the line, however, with overs (if not nerves) to spare.

---- Points table ----
1. Sierra Leone (8 points, NRR: 1.03)
2. Namibia (8, 0.87)
3. Uganda (6, -0.56)
4. Kenya (6, 0.10)
5. Zambia (4, -0.12)
6. Botswana (4, -0.44)
7. Tanzania (2, -0.39)
8. Nigeria (0, -2.02)

Nepal, the odds-on favourites who have dominated recent Asian Cricket Council Under-19 tournaments, were brought down to earth with a bump by Hong Kong who sent them crashing to a 36-run defeat. The result means both teams go through to the semi-finals.

Irfan Ahmed was the star of the show for Hong Kong, thumping 103 off 101 balls in a score of 193 for 7. Nepal struggled from the off and were bowled out for 157, Irfan Ahmed making the Man-of-the-Match adjudication a formality with 3 for 72 while Shakeel Haq took 4 for 17.
In the other Group A match, Singapore beat Saudi Arabia by 39 runs.

With Afghanistan already through from Group B, the other place was between UAE and Qatar, and it was Qatar who went through, bowling Bhutan out for 69 and coasting to a nine-wicket win - UAE’s 130-run defeat of Oman wasn’t enough.

Afghanistan will play a shell-shocked Nepal, while Hong Kong meet Qatar

Nepal, the odds-on favourites who have dominated recent Asian Cricket Council Under-19 tournaments, were brought down to earth with a bump by Hong Kong who sent them crashing to a 36-run defeat. The result means both teams go through to the semi-finals.

Irfan Ahmed was the star of the show for Hong Kong, thumping 103 off 101 balls in a score of 193 for 7. Nepal struggled from the off and were bowled out for 157, Irfan Ahmed making the Man-of-the-Match adjudication a formality with 3 for 72 while Shakeel Haq took 4 for 17.
In the other Group A match, Singapore beat Saudi Arabia by 39 runs.

With Afghanistan already through from Group B, the other place was between UAE and Qatar, and it was Qatar who went through, bowling Bhutan out for 69 and coasting to a nine-wicket win - UAE’s 130-run defeat of Oman wasn’t enough.

Afghanistan will play a shell-shocked Nepal, while Hong Kong meet Qatar

McLaren Smith, the Bermuda allrounder, has been drafted in as Lamar Richardson's replacement for next month's Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia.

Smith's late call-up means he will represent Bermuda at both the Under-19 World Cup as well as the Stanford 20/20 tournament in Antigua with the senior squad.

"McLaren will be coming from the Twenty20 tournament, where he will be on national team duty, so he won't be going to India with us," Andre Manders, the Bermuda Under-19 coach, said. "He's a tall medium-fast bowler and batsman. He was already in the [Stanford 20/20] squad and we didn't want to take him out. I guess he's quite lucky as he will be going on both trips, but we know he's up to the task."

Richardson was ruled out of the World Cup last week after breaking his wrist in training, joining Stefan Kelly on the sidelines, though Kelly's omission is due to his school commitments.

Nepal have announced a 15-man squad for next month's Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia. Roy Luke Dias, the coach, will be assisted by Jagat Tamata (assistant coach) and Tarakmani Dixit as the team manager.

Squad
Paras Khadka (capt), Gyanendra Malla (vice-captain), Mahesh Kumar Chhetri, Raj Shrestha, Amrit Bhatterai, Avay Rana, Aakash Kumar Gupta, Sagar Khadka, Antim Thapa, Rom Shrestha, Chandra Saud, Rahul Kumar BK, Anil Kumar Mandal, Pushpa Thapa and Subash Pradhan (reserves: Sunam Gautam, Santosh Baral and Nirmal Simangaida)

Junior cricket is again on the march in the USA. On the heels of the USA Under-17s tour of India, an Under-19s squad put together by the Texas Cricket Academy will be going to India as well.

Read the full story at Cricinfo where you can also leave your comments.

Botswana produced the shock of the Africa Under-19 World Cup Qualifiers when they Uganda by 27 runs to reach the semi-finals in Benoni on Monday.

Botswana's unexpected victory eliminated Tanzania from the semi-final on net run-rate after the duo along with Uganda ended up at four points each from three matches. In Wednesday's semi-finals, Uganda meets Namibia while Kenya faces Botswana. Kenya topped Pool One after conjuring up a four-wicket victory over Zambia while Namibia finished second after defeating Ghana by 172 runs, courtesy of an unbeaten century by Sean Silver.

In the Botswana-Uganda match, Botswana scored 192 for 8 after being put into bat with contributions from Karan Kapoor (54) and Nadeem Tajbhay (36) while Emmanuel Nakaana bagged 3 for 45. In turn, Uganda was dismissed for 165 in 44 overs after losing their last seven wickets for 54.

Tanzania, in their last match, carved out a 153-run victory over Nigeria. Athumani Kakonzi (70) and Seif Abdul (68) put on 123 for the second wicket to set the platform for Tanzania's 296 in 49.5 overs. Nigeria, in its target chase, were bowled out for 143.

Silver scored 101 to inspire Namibia to a 172-run victory over Ghana and featured in a 117-run second wicket partnership with Tiaan Louw (62) as Namibia scored 287 for 6. Ghana were dismissed for 115 with Elandre Oosthuizen taking 4 for 39 and Louis Petrus van der Westhuizen claiming 3 for 13.

Spinners Rakep Patel and Rohit Vekaria shared six wickets to help Kenya beat Zamibia by four wickets. Patel took 3 for 16 and Vekaria bagged 3 for 17 as Zambia were spun out for 152. Kenya achieved victory in 34.1 overs for the loss of six wickets.

The winner of the Africa Under-19 Qualifiers join Papua New Guinea (from the East Asia-Pacific Region), Ireland (from the Europe Region) and Bermuda (from the Americas Region), the ICC's 10 Full Members and hosts Malaysia at the 16-team U-19 World Cup from February 17 to March 2 2008 in Malaysia.

Canada and Bermuda lived up to their pre-tournament favourites' tag by scoring convincing victories in their Americas Under-19 Qualifiers in Toronto on Tuesday. Canada beat Argentina by nine wickets while Bermuda won their second match in a row by beating Cayman Islands by seven wickets.

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Bermuda and the Cayman Islands notched victories on the opening day of the Americas Under-19 Qualifiers, as Bermuda eased past the Bahamas by 195 runs while the Cayman Islands powered to a ten-wicket win over Argentina.

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The real impact of the USA's suspension from international cricket will hit home today when north of the border in Toronto the region's leading teams will meet to take part in the Americas Under-19 Qualifier.

The prize at stake is a place at the ICC U-19 World Cup in Malaysia next February and March. While hosts Canada will be joined by sides from Argentina, Bahamas, Bermuda and Cayman Islands, the USA's young players will be left at home dreaming of what might have been.

The USA were present at the last U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka - on that occasion the ICC hierarchy commendably decided that it would be unfair to punish young players because of the governance issues affecting the national board . But this time there has been no such concession and so the U-19 side will miss out.

The sadness of this becomes more apparent when you listen to people involved in grassroots US cricket.

Last month, Hemant Buch, co-founder of the California Cricket Academy, told Cricinfo: "There will simply be more and more junior cricket in all parts of North America, and we should have several thousand first-class juniors ready to play competitive cricket by 2011."

When the various factions indulge in their next bout of self-obsessed squabbling for control of the USA Cricket Association, they would all so well to remember that the real victims of their conduct of recent years should be in Toronto preparing for the biggest week of their lives.

Canada face a stiff challenge from Bermuda in their bid to return to the Under-19 World Cup when the five-team round-robin Americas U-19 Qualifier begins at Mapleleaf CC, King City in Toronto on Monday (August 13).

Argentina, Caymans Islands and debutants Bahamas are the other teams taking part in the week-long competition. The winner will join the ICC’s 10 Full Members, hosts Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Ireland (who recently qualified from the East-Asia Pacific and European Regions respectively) at the 16-team U-19 World Cup to be played in Malaysia next February. Canada missed the 2006 event in Sri Lanka but participated in the 2002 and 2004 tournaments.

Familiar home conditions, an improving infrastructure and more international exposure helps Canada to start as firm favourites and coach Courtney Gonsalves is optimistic that his players are ready for the event. “All the players attended the elite programme we started last October in which we set up talent hunt and training camps throughout Canada,” he said. “Our goal is to qualify for next year’s U-19 World Cup and I am sure that the combination of this elite programme along with exposure in the premier division will help us achieve our target.”

However, Canada are likely to be tested by Bermuda who have been bolstered by the inclusion of allrounders Malachi Jones and Stefan Kelly, who played in the recent full World Cup, while the youngsters' captain Rodney Trott narrowly missed the event. The trio will rejoin the senior Bermuda team for the match against Ireland in the ICC Intercontinental Cup after completing the Toronto assignment.

Bermuda coach Arnold Manders believes his team’s hopes of earning a finals berth are better than ever. “I think our chances of winning are greater than previous years because we have played more matches as a team and the players are confident in their individual roles.”

Bermuda prepared for the tournament by playing eight domestic 50-overs-a-side competition matches between May and June besides participating in the Sir Garfield Sobers Cricket Tournament in Barbados which was also used as a training camp for the Americas U-19 Qualifier.

“We have worked tirelessly on the team concept, and the individual discipline of the players have really improved. Our team this year is mentally stronger [than previously] and combined with the intense training the players received from the coaches, this should result in a good team combination. The players have the knowledge and now they need to produce.”

For Argentina, it will be their first appearance in this event as an ICC Associate Member. They have previously struggled at the junior level but it would be dangerous to discount them, particularly after the senior team’s heroics in Darwin in June where they earned promotion to the World Cricket League Division 2 by qualifying for the final of the Division 3 tournament.

Middle-order batsman Pedro Bruno, left-arm seam bowler Santiago Irigoyen and allrounders Ignacio Redruello and Tomas Birnie were part of that successful campaign in Darwin, but instead of making big predictions, coach Hamish Barton has set his sights on winning at least once in Toronto. “Basically our main goal is to win one game. We feel this is a realistic goal for the Argentine team considering the team’s past performances and the stage of its development.”

Barton said the sport is still in the embryonic stage in Argentina and the team has prepared as best it can in the tough winter season. “The players are very much in the development stage and we are aiming to do the basics right and achieve our specific goals for each skill area, the experience and exposure to international cricket.

“The team has prepared as best it could as it is winter in Argentina at the moment and training has been extremely difficult at times. But the team has trained well and the development of the players over the last three months has been very pleasing.”

Caymans Islands have always been very competitive at youth level and nobody is expecting them to be far behind this time. Captain Ramon Sealy, along with top-order batsman Darren Cato and bowler Kervin Ebanks, have played in the Caymans Islands domestic Division 1 tournament for the last two years.

Sealy sees batting as his team’s strength. “I think the team has a good chance of winning because we have a strong batting line-up which is not only capable of setting high totals but chasing them as well.”

Bahamas are the only Affiliate Member in the group and are fielding a team for the first time. The senior team will participate in next year’s ICC World Cricket League Division 5 to be played in Jersey in May.

Bahamas captain Gregory Taylor hopes that the Americas U-19 Qualifier will help his country’s bid towards earning ICC’s Associate Membership. He said: “We hope to achieve recognition as an Affiliate power house and to show the ICC and the world that we are ready to become an Associate Member of the ICC. Two years ago we did not have a full U-19 team, but we worked hard under the guidance of coach John Welch to achieve this. Jonathan Barry, Jeremy Jesubatham, Rodrick Mitchel and I came up in the U-15 program from 2001 and have played a lot of cricket with the seniors.”

The United States of America, who took part in their first U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2006 are missing this time as the USA Cricket Association is currently suspended as an ICC Member.

Argentina Juan Tomas Birnie (capt), Alejo Tissera, Augusto Mustafa, Facundo Duggan, Hernan Fennell, Horacio Esperon, Ignacio Fermani, Ignacio Redruello, Juan Pablo Bordacahar, Pablo Siracusa, Pedro Bruno, Ramiro Rodriguez Delgado, Santiago Iritxity Irigoyen, Santiago Paez Nicoletti.

Bahamas Gregory Taylor (capt), Adrian Dean, Ambry Moss, Anwar Sawyer, Corie Frazer, Franz Taylor, Fritz Stubbs, Jeremy Jesubatham, Jermaine Adderley, Jonathan Barry, LaSalle Thompson, Marc Taylor, Rodrick Mitchel, Rudolph Fox.

Bermuda Rodney Trott (capt), Christopher Douglas, Dennico Hollis, Greg Maybury, Hodsoll Kyle, Jordan De Silva, Khiry Furbert, Lamar Richardson, Malachi Jones, Marico Bassett, Stefan Kelly, Steven Bremar Jr, Tamauri Tucker, Terryne Fray.

Canada Abishek Krisnamoorthy (capt), Chris Monohar (vice-captain), Arsalan Qadir, Asif Manjra, Hasan Raza Zaidi, Jaskeerat Singh Kalon, Kevin James, Khushal Gangopadhyay, Majid Usman, Pratik Patel, Riayzkhan Pathan, Rustum Bhatti, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Usman Iqubal.

Cayman Islands Ramon Sealy (capt), Corey Cato, Dale Parker, Darado Thompson, Darren Cato, Earl Hart, Kervin Ebanks, Patrick McConvey, Robert Hewitt, Sacha DeAlwis, Shane Cato, Vincent Ebanks, Zachary McLaughlin.

The ICC East Asia - Pacific (EAP) office have confirmed the dates for the 2007 ICC EAP U-19 World Cup Qualifier hosted by Vanuatu Cricket Association in Port Vila. The tournament will take place from July 17 to 24, 2007.

Confirmed countries participating in this tournament are Fiji, Japan, Papua New Guinea and tournament hosts Vanuatu, with the winner earning direct entry to the 2008 Under-19 World Cup.

ICC EAP Regional Development Manager, Mr Matt Weisheit reported "We are delighted that Vanuatu will be hosting this significant ICC East Asia - Pacific U-19 tournament in July 2007. For Vanuatu, this follows the successful staging of the 2005 EAP Cricket Cup tournament and we see this tournament as building on the progress Vanuatu is making in terms of cricket development both on and off the field.

"With the winner of this EAP tournament progressing directly to the U19 Cricket World Cup means that this will be a hotly contested tournament. The lure of participating in a World Cup will provide significant motivation for the Countries involved and as such this is one of the major tournaments on the 2007 EAP Cricket Calendar".

Vanuatu Cricket Association (VCA) President, Mr Mark Stafford, said that the tournament will provide a valuable boost for the growth of the sport in Vanuatu. "We have focussed on developing our junior cricket programs and structures, and hosting the ICC EAP U-19's World Cup qualifier complements our ambitions to cultivate a strong junior base. This will provide us an opportunity to improve our ability to compete internationally and also promote the sport locally.

"It is imperative that we secure government and corporate support for this tournament, as there are a number of areas that Vanuatu cricket needs to improve in. Besides, the importance of a strong on-field performance, it is also necessary for us to improve our facilities and enhance our reputation as a well organised cricket organisation, to achieve this we need community involvement and support."

We have full coverage of the Under-19 World Cup from Sri Lanka, including scorecards and reports from countries we feature in Beyond the Test World.

Nepal have performed admirably today in restricting England to 209. Uganda were routed by Pakistan for just 74. The USA have been given a harsh introduction by the West Indies and Namibia's Dawid Botha played well for his fifty against India.

Keep up to date by visiting our tour index, today's round-up and yesterday's.