Captains look ahead to ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier
The captains of the ten teams taking part in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament in Dublin and the North-West spoke today of their excitement of taking part in the event which begins tomorrow.
Teams from Afghanistan, Canada, Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, USA and Vanuatu join hosts Ireland for the tournament which is being played from 28 July to 9 August. The top six sides of the tournament will qualify for a place at the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup to be held in Australia next year. The 10 ICC Full Members automatically qualify.
The tournament will be played on 14 grounds in Dublin and the North-West - Merrion, The Hills, North County, Leinster, Clontarf, YMCA, Oakhill, Coleraine, Bready 1, Bready 2, Limavady, Strabane, Eglinton and Drummond.
Host captain George Dockrell of Ireland is thrilled to play a part in the tournament after being part of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
He said: ``It is definitely a big thing. Last year at the Under 19 Europeans we did well. I want to lead this team to the World Cup next year, that?s the big goal. We have a strong bowling attack and our batting has a lot of depth. It is great for me as a captain that we have a good range of bowlers to choose from.
``My experience at the World Cup will definitely help the squad. I have been talking to the team about my experience. But such is the quality of the squad that we feel confident that we can go forward. Little things are going to be very important, if we want to go through.?
The Ireland captain believes his side will face tough challenge from the sides that it does not play regularly.
``We are looking forward to play sides like Nepal, Afghanistan, Vanuatu. These sides have different styles. It will be a great challenge. But if we do our skills well, we will do well,?? adds Dockrell.
Afghanistan captain Shir M. Shirzi is happy to go into the tournament as one of the favourites:
``We want to play well. The pitches here will be very good and we will enjoy ourselves playing here. The performances of the senior team gives us hope to do well in the tournament. Few of our players like Jawed Ahmadi, Aftab Alam and Najibullah Zadran have played for the senior team as well. That experience should help.
``There is massive interest back home in the progress of this team. We played our senior team recently and also a team in Pakistan. Both times we performed well. So that gives us a lot of confidence,?? says Shirzi.
Of the other sides, Nepal captain Prithu Baskota leads a side capable of springing a few surprises.
``We are just trying to qualify for the ICC u19 World Cup and make it to the top six. If we play to our potential, then definitely we will qualify. We have some really raw talents in our side and the guys are the confident and are hopeful that they will do well.
``We have a balanced all-round side. We have played sides like Afghanistan before, they are a good side. We have not seen Ireland and Scotland playing but we have a rough sketch of how they play. If we play to our strengths and stick to the basics, we can go to Australia,?? says Baskota.
Papua New Guinea Captain Chris Kent leads a team that aims to be the surprise package of the tournament with the addition of former Australia international Andy Bichel as team coach.
``Springing surprises is a good thing. The presence of Andy Bichel as our coach has been a great boost. Things have started looking up since the time he has come in. We have got new funding and new coaches. It is a big opportunity for us to get involved with professionals. He has taught us about how to act outside. We now know more subtlety of cricket and the modern game. It is really good for Cricket PNG and for the whole group,?? says Kent.
Notes to editors:
The ICC has created an FTP site that is available to all members of the media to access photographs of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier. Images of all teams in action and also the press conference tomorrow will be available for free download. Please credit all images to ICC/Rob O?Connor.
To access the ftp, copy and paste the below link into Windows Explorer:
ftp://internationalcricketcouncil.net/U19-WCQualifiers
Username: U19-WCQ-read
Password: icc_123
The full squads are as follows:
Afghanistan: Shir M. Shirzi (captain), M Jawed Ahmadi, Mohammad Y. Ahmadzai, Nasir J. Ahmadzai, Younas K. Ahmadzai, Aftab Alam, Abdur R Mangal, Abdul R.K. Naseri, Mohibullah Paak, Rahmatullah Sahaq, Hashmatullah Shaidi, Sayed A. Shirzad, Najibullah Zadran, Afsar K. Zazai
Canada: Kevasan Juvarajan (captain), Tristan Ali, Maninder Aulakh, Suddepta Aurka, Gurkaran Dhilon, Nikil Dhutta, Kyle Edghill, Nitish Kumar, Trevor Manoosingh, Rayankhan Pathan, Sarren Ramsany, Jobanjot Singh Sidhu, Akass Shah, Akhlas Umar
Ireland: George Dockrell (captain), George Adair, Richard Berry, Scott Campbell, Adam Coughlan, Shane Getake, Niall Hodgins, Ryan Hunter, Hugh MacDonnell, Andrew McBrine, Graeme McCarter, Barry McCarthy, Sam Shannon, Jason van der Marwe
Kenya: Kennedy Ochieng (captain), Duncan Allan, Harrison Angila, Jignesh Hirani, Irfan Karim, Martin Ndandason, Joseph Ochieng, Rushabhvardhan Patel, Emmanuel Ringera, Raj Savala, Raj Shikotra, Vinit Shikotra, Siddhant Taneja, Rahul Vishram
Namibia: Stephen Baard (captain), Justin Baard, Luke Bolton, Christopher Coombe, Jason Davidson, Andre Engelbrecht, Gerhard Erasmus, Shalako Groenewald, Zhivago Groenewald, Gert Lotter, Tangeni Lungameni, Pelham Myburgh, Wian van vuuren, Johan Wessels
Nepal: Prithu Baskota (captain), Pradeep Airee, Naresh B. Budhaayer, Bhuban Karki, Krishna Karki, Avinash Karn, Subash P. Khakurel, Nischal Pandey, Shubhendi Pandey, Rajesh Pulami Magar, Sagar Pun, Fajlur Rahman, Rupesh K. Shrivastav, Rahul K. Vishwakarma
PNG: Christopher Kent (captain), Charles Amini, Dogodo Bau, Sese Bau, Nigel Boge, Albert Geita, Raymond Haoda, Gia Kelly, Raturima Maha, Alei Nao, Vagi Oala, Lega Siaka, Toua Tom, Norman Vanua
Scotland: Patrick Saddler (captain), Frederick Coleman, Matthew Cross, Henry Edwards, Peter Legget, Anjandeep Luthra, Thomas McBride, Scott McElnea, Ross McLean, Samuel Page, Peter Ross, Kyle Smith, Gavin Main, Aman Bailwal
USA: Gregory Sewdial (captain), Salman Ahmad, Shayan Abdul Ghani, Abhijit Joshi, Cameron Mirza, Prashanth Nair, Mital Patel, Amarnauth Persaud, Gurpreet Sandhu, Hammad Shahid, Jodhbir Singh, Trevor Singh, Pranay Suri, Steven Taylor
Vanuatu: Patrick Matautaava (captain), Ravin Arutambean, Kaluwin Bangalini, Callum Blake, Jelany Chilia, Worford Kalworai, Kendy Kenneth, Nalin Nipiko, Jamal Ngwango, Joshua Rasu, Shem Sala, Jaxies Samuel, Apolinaire Stephen, Ronald Tari