Schedule confirmed for ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010
ESS will broadcast 10 of the matches live around the globe
The match schedule for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 has been confirmed. This 16-team tournament, which is seen as an important breeding ground for the next generation of senior international cricketers, will take place in New Zealand from 15 to 30 January.
Defending champion India will open its campaign against qualifier Afghanistan in front of the ESPN Star Sports (ESS) cameras at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, near Christchurch on the opening day of the competition with Pakistan facing the West Indies in Palmerston North and 2008 beaten finalist South Africa taking on Ireland in Queenstown.
In total, the ICC's broadcast partner ESS will televise 10 matches, including both semi-finals and the final, and beam the action live around the world.
The 16 teams are split into four groups with Groups A and C being based in and around Christchurch, Group B teams playing their matches in Queenstown and Group D games taking place in Napier and Palmerston North. In addition to the 10 Full Members, there are six Associate and Affiliate teams taking part, having won through their respective regional qualifying tournaments as well as the global qualifier, which was held in Canada in September.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals with the remainder of the teams taking part in the plate competition.
The groups are as follows:
Group A: India, England, Afghanistan, Hong Kong
Group B: South Africa, Australia, Ireland, USA
Group C: New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada
Group D: Pakistan, Bangladesh, West Indies, Papua New Guinea
Schedules of the event matches and the pre-tournament warm-up games are attached and more information is available at www.icc-cricket.com.
The ICC U19 Cricket World Cup is the leading development tournament for international cricket's stars of the future and takes place every two years. The previous winners of the event have been Australia (1988 and 2002), England (1998), India (2000 and 2008) and Pakistan (2004 and 2006). Leading senior players that have appeared at the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup include Inzamam-ul-Haq, Brian Lara, Graeme Smith, Sanath Jayasuriya, Yuvraj Singh and many others.
From the 2008 event in Malaysia several players have already made the breakthrough to senior international cricket including Wayne Parnell of South Africa, Philip Hughes of Australia, Virat Kholi and Ravindra Jadeja of India and New Zealand's Tim Southee among others.