Namibia and Zimbabwe are the most experienced sides in the ICC U19 CWC UAE 2014

A total of 35 players will be returning to their national squads for the tournament after being selected more than once, as the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup (ICC U19 CWC) takes place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from14 February to 1 March.

Topping the charts for countries boasting the most number of squad-members that have been selected again for the ICC U19 CWC are Namibia and Zimbabwe. The two nations have selected five such players for this event, and head the table below for the most experienced squads at the ICC U19 CWC UAE 2014.

The 35 players mentioned above include those already among the 182 players that have played in the ICC U19 CWC more than once.

A total of 25 players participated in both the 2010 and 2012 editions, but Hashmatullah Shaidi of Afghanistan is returning to participate in his third competition, the only player to do so. Only six players have played 16 or more games in the competition, and with 12 under his belt already, Hashmatullah has a chance to make an impact on that list.

Unsurprisingly, not even one of the 11 players ever to participate in three different editions comes from a Full Member nation. The reason is that the age-criteria and eligibility-checks are stricter for Full Member players and more relaxed for those from the Associate and Affiliate countries.

The first to do so was Stefan Swanepoel of Namibia. Six Nepalese players have achieved the feat, two from Ireland and one each from Scotland and Papua New Guinea.

Those that emulated Swanepoel, who played in 1998, 2000 and 2002, include Nepal’s Prem Chaudhary, Kanishka Chaugai, Paras Khadka, Basant Regmi, Raj Shrestha and Yashwant Subedi; Ireland’s Shane Getkate and Greg Thompson; Papua New Guinea’s Charles Amini and Scotland’s Moneeb Iqbal.

These statistics span all nine editions of the tournament, from 1988 to 2012.

In terms of the leading returning players at the ICC U19 CWC UAE 2014, the following table illustrates the highest run-getters turning out again this time:

However, all batsmen mentioned above will struggle to challenge the record set by the leading all-time run-scorer, Ireland’s Eoin Morgan, who has 606 overall.

With regards to the leading returning bowlers at the tenth edition of the ICC U19 CWC, the table below places them in descending order:

As with the batsmen, the bowlers mentioned above will find it a tall order to go past the all-time leading wicket-takers in this tournament, who are Australia’s Moises Henriques and Ireland’s Greg Thompson with 27 wickets each.

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