Scotland Qualify for U19 World Cup

Following the bitter disappointment of the ICC Trophy, Scotland, hosts and winners of the recent ECC Colts Tournament, have secured their place for the 2002 U19 World Cup, details of which were recently announced. The sixteen-team tournament, to be staged in New Zealand in January and February, will be kicked off by an opening ceremony at the Christchurch Convention Centre on Monday 14 January, with teams then having two warm-up games before the opening game between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln on Saturday 19 January.

India are defending champions, having beaten Sri Lanka in the final of the last tournament, held in Sri Lanka two years ago. Fourteen of the sixteen participating countries are already known, with the two remaining qualifiers yet to be decided. Participants will compete in four pools, with India, South Africa, Bangladesh and Canada (pool 1) playing at Colin Maiden Park in Auckland; Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Namibia (pool 2), and Pakistan, England, the Asia qualifier and the East Asia Pacific qualifier (pool 3) competing in Christchurch, at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln Green and Lincoln Three; and Australia, the West Indies, Scotland and Kenya battling it out at Carisbrook in Dunedin.

At the end of the group section, the top two teams from each pool will move into a Super League stage, played in two pools of four, with the top two teams in each pool going through to the finals series, all to be played in Christchurch. The remaining two teams from each pool will compete in a plate championship, also in two pools, which will be staged in Auckland.