Defending champion Bangladesh will begin their endeavour to retain the crown of U-19 World Cup against England at St. Kitts and Nevis on January 16.
International Cricket Council has released the fixture of the next edition of ICC U-19 World Cup which will take place at the West Indies from January 14 to February 5 across four island nations of the Caribbean.
The sixteen teams competing will see current holders Bangladesh, England, Canada and the United Arab Emirates form Group A, with debutants Uganda placed in Group B alongside India, South Africa and Ireland. Group C comprises Pakistan, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea and Group D sees host West Indies, Australia and Sri Lanka. Scotland complete the tournament line up in Group D after New Zealand withdrew due to the extensive mandatory quarantine restrictions for minors on their return home.
The four host countries have been confirmed as Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago with 10 venues hosting matches. The format will see the top two teams from each of the four groups advance to the Super League while the remaining teams feature in the Plate across 23 days of competition.
The 48-match schedule will begin with hosts West Indies taking on Australia, with Sri Lanka facing Scotland in Guyana on 14 January. The group stage will take place across Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago between 14 and 22 January.
Bangladesh, placed in group A will face England first on January 16, the young Tigers will take on Canada on January 20 in their next match and in their last group stage match Bangladesh will play against UAE on January 22.
Trinidad and Tobago will host the Plate competition between 25 and 31 January, with the Super League taking place in Antigua and Barbuda from 26 January. The semi-finals will be played on 1 February across two venues; the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground and Coolidge Cricket Ground on 2 February. The Final on 5 February will also be held at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.
ICC Head of Events, Chris Tetley said: “The ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup is such an exciting and special tournament, bringing together the future stars of the game and giving them an unrivalled experience of competing on the global stage.
“So many of the best players have competed at the U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup including Virat Kohli, Babar Azam, Joe Root and Shimron Hetmyer and we are looking forward to the 2022 edition to see who emerges as the future stars.
Cricket West Indies President Ricky Skerritt said: “CWI is looking forward to hosting this important global U19 cricket event, which is just around the corner, in January. In partnership with host territorial boards, cricket clubs, and Ministries of Sports, we have been hard at work preparing for this event over the past several months. However, amid so many Covid-related challenges, it has not been easy to finalise the venues and to work out all the related logistics.
The West Indies have won the title once in 2016, with India being crowned champions four times, Australia three times, Pakistan twice while England, South Africa and Bangladesh have won it once each.
There will be 16 warm-up matches taking place between 9 and 12 January in St Kitts and Nevis and Guyana.
