ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026 Group A: Peake enjoyment of the game can lead Australia to title defence
Media release
Australia captain Oliver Peake wants his side to focus on enjoying themselves at the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026 and ignore the pressure to win.
The defending champions take on Ireland, Japan, and Sri Lanka in Group A and will have high hopes of once again going all the way.
Peake was part of the victorious side two years ago, having been drafted into the squad following an injury, and contributed knocks of 49 and 46 in the semi-final and final respectively.
With that experience under his belt, the 19-year-old wants his team-mates to embrace the occasion in Zimbabwe and Namibia and hopes the fun-factor can help produce their best cricket.
“I’m very excited to captain these boys, it’s a massive honour and something I am really looking forward to,” he said.
“Hopefully I can add some calm into stressful situations and help the boys through that. We have a lot of good players with heaps of skills to showcase and put up a good fight.
“The goal is to have a lot of fun during this tournament, play to win, look out for each other, play for each other and hopefully the results will look after themselves. If not, hopefully we can say we left it all out there and gave it our best shot.
“A lot of the nations look to us as the benchmark a little bit, but there is not pressure from within. It’s more just about having fun, doing whatever we can to win and looking out for each other. Hopefully we can become great mates.”
Australia begin their campaign against Ireland in Windhoek on Friday, before they also take on Japan and Sri Lanka in the Namibian capital.
Peake is looking forward to three tough matches but believes his side have put in the work to ensure they progress.
“We will get a good challenge out of our group opponents. We know it is going to be first class and every team will come with different challenges,” he added.
“Ireland and Japan are a bit unknown, I’ve never played against them before, but hopefully we can come up with plans to beat them. We will have to do our research and hopefully go out there and perform.
“The preparation goes back to last year when we toured in India, that was a really good tour to get exposed to different conditions and face some good spinners. We learned a lot there.
“It would mean everything to win it again. We have a good history of winning World Cups so hopefully we can carry that on and do the country proud.”
While Australia are four-time winners of the competition, Japan are making just their second appearance, having debuted in 2020.
Captain Kazuma Kato-Stafford leads a young squad to Zimbabwe and Namibia who excited to continue the development and growth of cricket in Japan.
“It is an honour to represent my family, friends and country,” he said. “The sport is not huge as yet but it’s growing.
“Being part of this unbelievable journey in a country not known for playing cricket is a huge honour and every time I pull this shirt on, I am filled with so much pride.
“We are a young team but a competitive team. Quite a lot of our guys are eligible for the next World Cup but we don’t like losing, we like to put our best foot forward under any circumstances and fight until the end.
“We are young in comparison to some other teams but we are very motivated to try our hardest.
“It is a very close group, a lot of us have toured together previously and it’s one big circle.
“Everyone gets along really well, after games we all eat dinner together and we have plenty of energetic guys in the team. We are a really close bunch and that is one of our strengths.”
Japan open their campaign against Sri Lanka on Saturday but it is the test against defending champions Australia that has stood out amongst the squad.
“We are really looking forward to the Australia game, that will be an unbelievable experience,” he added.
“It’s not often that associate nations on the scale of Japan face world class nations like Australia.
“A lot of us are really looking at that game as an opportunity and a challenge to face the world’s best players.
“By no means are we underestimating the other teams in our group but it is hard to look past the reigning champions.”
Group B: Jones hopes experience pays dividends for New Zealand
New Zealand skipper Tom Jones has a powerful mantra to guide his side with at the ICC Under-19s Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026
The 19-year-old is appearing at his second U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, having helped the young Blackcaps to the Super Six stage in 2024.
At that tournament, New Zealand played India, one of the teams they will face in the group stage, alongside Bangladesh and the USA.
“We have a stronger group than two years ago,” Jones said. “The beauty of three of us coming back is that we have that experience under our belts, and we can feed that through.
“Three of us played India and Pakistan last time, so we have a bit of experience playing the sub-continent teams, and they are certainly strong.
“The second you stop admiring these teams, the second you can really compete.”
Also returning for New Zealand are Snehith Reddy and Mason Clarke, the latter of whom plays alongside Jones at Otago.
On his first-class debut for the region, Jones hit a century, and he will hope to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, Jeremy Coney, a former New Zealand Test captain.
Jones will also aim to do something his grandfather did not get the chance to do during his esteemed career: lift the World Cup trophy.
New Zealand reached the final of the 1998 tournament, with three fourth-place finishes their best performances this century.
Jones added: “It would mean everything to lift the trophy. It hasn’t been done before for New Zealand, so the impact it would have back home, especially for young cricketers who look at this competition as a goal for them, would be huge. It would be a massive honour.
“We have some real talent, some ball strikers, quick bowlers, gun fielders, we want to go out there and show that. We always want to be moving the game on and taking it forward.
“The messaging is pretty clear from the coaching staff, we just want boys to be free out there.
“They have all the talent, and you can sometimes come here and want to prove yourself, but everything they have done to get there is enough.”
New Zealand start their campaign against the USA on 18 January, meanwhile, USA kick off the whole tournament when they take on India in Match 1 on 15 January.
USA are playing in back-to-back ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cups for the first time in their history, having finished the 2024 edition without a win.
They also faced India and Bangladesh in the group stages in South Africa, and captain Utkarsh Srivastava is hoping to cause a shock this time around.
“We want to get to the second round, that’s our first goal,” he said. “We want to upset teams, we want to make it to the knockout stages and make a statement in this World Cup. We believe we can win every game we play.
“Every tournament, every game is a learning opportunity to grow as a cricketer. I hope every player on our team takes that opportunity to grow as a cricketer.
“It feels surreal, this is an opportunity not many get, and I am looking forward to making the most of it.”
Group C: England confident of ending 28-year drought while Zimbabwe relish home support
England begin their bid for a first ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup victory since 1998 in Group C and skipper Thomas Rew feels his side ‘definitely have what it takes’ to lift the trophy.
Rew’s side have beaten New Zealand and India in warm-up matches, the captain top-scoring with an unbeaten 71 in the second of those on Monday, and open their tournament against Pakistan on Friday.
England came close to glory in 2022, losing the final to India despite an impressive 95 from Rew’s older brother, James.
And the 17-year-old from Somerset believes his side can go one better this time around.
“We are all really excited. We have a great group of players and we can’t wait,” he said.
“This team definitely has what it takes. We have all bases covered, some fiery fast bowlers, magic spinners and a nice batting line-up. Hopefully we can go all the way.
“Winning this World Cup would be massive for our team, family and friends, everyone who has supported us through our short careers so far.
“We have had that ambition for a long time, since we started playing as a group together, we have built up towards this tournament and we are ready to go.”
England’s first opponents, Pakistan, have a strong pedigree in this competition, winning it twice (in 2004 and 2006) and finishing runners-up on three other occasions.
Skipper Farhan Yousuf and his team enter the competition full of confidence after their recent triumph in the Asia Cup.
He said: “It's the first time that Pakistan U19s has won the Asia Cup so that has given us a lot of confidence. We have bonded very well, and I think this will help us in the current World Cup.
“Our morale is very high and the team is gelling very well. It's not just the team, we're getting on well with the management and we're having fun.
“We've had the best preparation because we've just come from winning the Asia Cup. We had a camp before that and we also played Zimbabwe, so we feel we are on the right track.
“I have full confidence in my team, we won the 2006 World Cup and I think we have the skills to do it again.”
Zimbabwe have the benefit of home advantage as they look to get past the group stage for the second successive U19 World Cup.
They reached the final of a tri-series featuring Pakistan and Afghanistan earlier in January and captain Simbarashe Mudzengerere is feeling hopeful.
“We are very confident and are looking forward to it,” he said. “Talking to each other is the best way to kill nerves and I am confident and feeling positive ahead of the start of the tournament. We have to keep it simple and hope that the best team wins.
“It has been a long time since we played against England and won, so we want to make history for Zimbabwe.
“Everyone is going to come and support and we know the conditions, we know how it plays in Zimbabwe. That is an advantage for us.”
Zimbabwe’s clash with Scotland is one of three taking place on the opening day of competition.
Wicketkeeper-batter Thomas Knight will lead Scotland in the competition and has his sights set on breaking new ground.
“A Scottish side hasn’t been out the group stage before so we have an opportunity to make history,” he said.
“There is the big one against England, which is a really cool one to look forward to. There is always a bit of extra tension in that one.
“We have had a really nice winter preparation and everyone is feeling really confident we can give a good account of ourselves and hopefully pull off an upset or two.”
Group D Tournament debutants Tanzania relishing opportunity
Amid tears and heightened emotions, Tanzania booked their place at their first-ever ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup and the tournament newcomers are planning to make the most of the experience.
Skipper Laksh Bakrania admits that his side arrive in Namibia as Group D underdogs, drawn alongside former champions South Africa and the West Indies, along with an Afghanistan team that has reached the semi-finals in two of the last four editions.
By contrast, this is a maiden appearance for Tanzania, who earned their place by winning the Africa qualifier with a 100 per cent record.
And with an opening match-up against the West Indies on Friday, Bakrania and his team are desperate to spring a surprise.
He said: “We got so many messages and video calls from back home when we qualified. We had a big ceremony at the airport when we landed, there were tears and emotions being felt by the cricket fraternity. History had been made.
“It has been quite fun as well, we have been working on tactical plans as a team. We want to believe in ourselves as players, we have come from a tough background with not good resources or infrastructure back home but that belief has got us here.
“We are underdogs, there are mostly Test-playing nations here, but a good team on the day can get it over the line.”
Tanzania kick things off against a good West Indian side, who have built plenty of experience from series against England and Sri Lanka.
For skipper Joshua Dorne, the inclusion of Jewel Andrew, a full international who returns for his second edition of the competition, will be the side’s secret weapon.
He said: “He showed (what he could do) at the last World Cup, then moved into the senior team in the same year.
“It’s clear to see that he came through the U19 system already and has transitioned into being a senior player, playing international cricket.
“He adds a lot more strength to our batting. His fearless batting approach is very important for us, especially batting at number three.”
Dorne was also part of the team two years ago in South Africa, enduring a tough time of it with the bat, and he plans to make up for that this time around.
He added: “Two years ago, it was a pretty dark time at the World Cup, things weren’t going my way. I was really gutted, I wasn’t myself at all.
“It wasn’t a pleasant experience but I learned from that experience and grew as a person and as a cricketer. I try to leave that in the past and focus on what is ahead of me at this World Cup.
“In the last two years, I think I’ve become more professional as a cricketer.”After Friday’s group opener, South Africa will face Afghanistan on Saturday, looking to hit the ground running after an up-and-down build-up.
The team is not short of talent, and skipper Muhammed Bulbulia is confident that his team can go deep despite a couple of losses coming in.
He said: “We are very calm at the moment. We have not had an easy build-up, we have had a couple of losses coming in, but I think that’s behind us and the boys are quite confident.
“There are some nerves around, starting with myself, which is common at the moment. We are very fortunate to have a mental coach with us, he has been brilliant for us in the build-up.
“The preparation has been really good, we had a couple of tours last year building up to this and we have had some camps. The guys are in a good space at the moment.
“Ultimate success would be to win the World Cup and that is everyone’s goal at the moment. We are trying to do everything for the side to make sure South Africa gets the most out of this competition.
“There are so many guys in the side really firing. The two opening batters have been brilliant for us.
“It would mean a lot to win it. It has been a two-and-a-half-year journey for myself and this group and it has not been easy, we have been through a lot of processes and trials to make this team, so to win it would be really special.”
Afghanistan, meanwhile, laid down a marker with a warm-up win over Australia before a narrow rain-affected defeat to Sri Lanka, having also suffered close losses to the Sri Lankans and Bangladesh at the Asia Cup.
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