Six teams vie for Africa’s spot at the global showpiece in Sri Lanka 2024Kenya, Nigeria and Sierra Leone progressed from Division Two in Abuja last yearNamibia, Uganda and hosts Tanzania join them as top three from 2021Eight days may define the careers of Africa’s next big stars when they embark on their much-awaited campaign in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifier.

Six nations are set to pit their wits against each other from 23rd to 30th July at two venues; the iconic Dar Gymkhana Club Ground and the University of Dar-es Salaam (UDSM), with the former hosting eight matches and the latter seven.

Kenya, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, who progressed in that respective order from the Division Two Qualifier held in Abuja in 2022, will fancy their chances against highly ranked Uganda, Namibia and host nation Tanzania in what promises to be the most evenly contested U19 Africa Qualifier in years!

Tanzania Cricket Association (TCA) have worked their socks off to ensure the facilities are up to scratch for the event.

“We are excited and feel honoured to host an event of such magnitude for the next generation of cricketers,” said Hamisi Abdallah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TCA, who is also the tournament’s Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairman.

“Our facilities are in good shape and the other logistics are going on well off the field. The preparations are in the final stages. We are hopefully going to deliver a quality tournament.”

Abdallah added; “We look forward to an exciting event as we get to showcase what Tanzania has to offer”

Painful memories
Tanzania were on the verge of qualifying for the last global showpiece in the West Indies in 2022 after dictating the pace in the Africa Division One Qualifier in October 2021 in Kigali, Rwanda.

Unfortunately they were piped to that lone berth by Uganda on net run rate (NRR) after the latter bundled them out for 51 runs in 26.5 overs on the final day of the qualifier and proceeded to chase down the target within 11 overs to boost their NRR to 2.128.
The trio of Uganda, Namibia and Tanzania finished with the same number of points as Uganda emerged victors with a superior NRR.

Amazingly Tanzania finished in third place as the Namibians beat Nigeria at Gahanga in a rain curtailed match.

Final preparations.

Coach Jimmy Kamande has been to the U-19 World Cup both as a player (1997-2000) and coach (2018) with Kenya and will be hoping to transform that winning mentality to Tanzania as he leads them.

“I have a team of all-rounders who can deliver on any given day. The team has prepared in the best possible way. We have had no tours but do have the psychological edge as we have been in camp for the last one month and are familiar with the local conditions,” said Kamande, who also captained Kenya at the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies.

But Tanzania’s rivals; Namibia, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Sierra Leone have all been busy too, leaving no stone unturned in their preparations.

Under the tutelage of Cricket Namibia’s new High Performance Manager Oscar Nauhaus, the Walvis Bay Salt Eagles have stepped up their preparations over the past fortnight.

They flew to South Africa to further fine tune in Pretoria with three high-intensity build-up matches at Sinoville and will be the first team to arrive in Dar today, where they will have the luxury of playing a warm-up match on 20th July.

“The squad has sufficient experience, with some members having participated in the previous U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Kigali. The team has a variety of skill sets to call on, which should provide us the opportunity to be adaptable and flexible,” said coach Nauhaus, whose nation has been to nine junior World Cups.

Junior Yellow Greens looking to be surprise package again in 2023.

Nerves got the better of Nigeria in the low-scoring Division II final when they went down to Kenya by 11 runs – failing to chase down a basketball score of 90, in front of a partisan crowd in Abuja last year.

Now they have done all that is within their means to ensure they are prepared with a two-week camp at the Omtex I Can We Can (ICWC) Cricket Institute in Saphale, India. They will be in good spirits as the boys have been camped in Benin City, Edo State for the last month following that tour.

“Mental preparation and game awareness are things we have been focusing on,” said Nigeria’s coach Daniel Gim.

“Our bowling is our trump card. It should take us over the line with the trio of Prosper Useni, captain Ridwan Abdulkareem and Chiemelie Udekwe at the front. In a round-robin event, everyone is our rival and we will tackle them as they come.”

In hard-hitting all-rounder Useni, Nigeria have a man who boasts of senior international cricket experience and can single-handedly win matches for his side, and alongside the batting pair of Selim Salau and Paul Pam they look solid at the top.

No outright favourites

Kenya come into the event with bragging rights as Division Two Africa champions and will without doubt be dark horses to qualify from Dar. The dangerous spinning duo of Aarnav Patel and Vishil Patel, who recently earned a debut senior cap at the Continent Cup – T20 Africa Cup in Nairobi last June, will be vicious whenever they bowl in tandem as they shared 20 wickets between them in Abuja.

Kenya borrowed a leaf from Nigeria’s training notes and camped at the Omtex ICWC Cricket Institute, too, for a fortnight.

“We cannot thank Cricket Kenya enough for the opportunity to take us to India. The boys have really learnt new things and trained at one of the best facilities in the world with the best coaches in the sub-continent. After training at home for two months, this is exactly what we needed to wrap up our preparations. We will certainly now be with a competitive mindset,” said Kenya’s coach Josephat Irungu.

For Uganda, who will not only be seeking just a successful title defence but also a ticket to their fourth U-19 World Cup, achieving the feat of going to Sri Lanka 2024 will be nostalgic.

Sri Lanka memories

The Baby Cricket Cranes coach Emmanuel Isaneez played at two U-19 World Cups in Bangladesh 2004 and Sri Lanka 2006. He boasts of a Player of the Match (POTM) performance of six wickets for 37 against Bangladesh in 2004, which at the time was the second-best figures in World Cup history and was also the architect of Uganda’s only victory with bowling figures of four for 20 against Scotland at PSS Oval in Colombo in 2006.

Sri Lanka is as good as home and Isaneez has promised to do everything within his powers to ensure the Ugandan youngsters are on the plane to South Asia.
“Everyone will come hard at us and we are ready for them. We had a trip to India in May which boosted the morale of the team and also played a role in giving both players and coaches the experience that was needed to compete under harsh and tough conditions. They will be better with this experience when they reach Tanzania,” said coach Isaneez.

Unlike others that went to Saphale, Uganda delved further 478km deep into South Gujarat for a 12-day stay in the environs of Sanjay Farm at Param Veer Cricket Academy in Chikhli where the East Africans won five of their seven tour build-up matches. The team has also camped in eastern Uganda town of Jinja and wrapped it all up with an intense week of team bonding in Entebbe before they make the short trip to Dar.

In young batting sensations Gerald Olipa, Anas Baig, Brian Asaba, Joseph Baguma and captain Fahad Mutagana, Uganda has quality across its squad. Earlier this month, Baguma and opening bowler Pius Oloka, who made a senior debut, were part of the Cricket Cranes side that played a four-match T20 & two-match 50-over bilateral series against the Richelieu Eagles of Namibia at United Cricket Club in Windhoek.

“We are going to control what we can. The first game against Namibia is going to be crucial for us considering their past success but we know we must clinically tackle all teams if we are to grab a spot to Sri Lanka,” added Isaneez.

Potential banana skins

Like many other ICC events, this tournament is bound to spring up some surprises and no other team is primed to throw a spanner in the works than Sierra Leone under the mercurial leadership of John Bangura.

Raymond Coker alongside the Sesay (George & Ibrahim), Turay (Eric Musa & Alusine) and Kamara (Aliya & Ibrahim Paul) namesakes in the side belong to the country’s golden generation. They will be hoping to catch their rivals napping and will be itching to deliver some knockout blows to their unsuspecting opponents.

“We are a totally different side from what people saw in Abuja. We have worked on our technique as well as our application. We have told each other that everyone must deliver in their respective roles,” said skipper Bangura, who also has a namesake in the team – James Bangura.

“Going to the World Cup regardless of any sport is any team’s dream. And nothing will stop us from pushing for a chance to go to Sri Lanka. We are going to Tanzania with an open mind and one mission to give our all in every match,” concluded the skipper from Freetown.

The winner of the African event will join regional qualifiers from Asia (Nepal), East Asia Pacific (New Zealand), Europe and America’s as well as the 11 Full Member cricket nations that automatically qualified for the 15th edition in Sri Lanka, who will be hosting a third junior World Cup after riveting events in 2000 and 2006.

SQUADS
KENYA
Vishil Patel (Captain), Brian Likavu, Didan Etabale, Yash Gohil, Darsh Panchani, Kennedy Wangoi, Aarnav Patel, Vaibhav Naresh, Stian Smith, Hitendra Sanghani, Vatsal Shah, Raj Pankhaniya, Neel Doshi, Krish Haria
NAMIBIA
Alexander Büsing-Volschenk (Captain), Johannes Arnoldus De Villiers, Johannes Wilhelm Visagie, Gerhard Johannes Janse Van Rensburg, Franscois Schalk Du Plessis, Franko Kerneels Bergh, Frans Hendrik Badenhorst, Morris Gerhardt Kariata, Pieter Wouter Niehaus, Zacheo Rudolf Jansen Van Vuuren, Ryan Taylor Moffet, Adriaan Louw, Jack Thomas Brassell, Peter-Daniel Blignaut

NIGERIA
Joshua Asia, David Abiebhode, Elochukwu Ndubudem, Izuchukwu Okeke, Paul Pam, Ridwan Kareem (Captain), Ridwanullahi Muhammed, Selim Salau, Solomon Chilemanya, Joshua Sunday, Emmanuel Udekwe, Prosper Useni, Gafar Kareem, Chijioke Okeke, Chidi Onwubualili, Victor Samuel.

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