Denmark hosts Under-13s

This year's ICC European Under-13 Championship, starting on Tuesday, is taking place on the small island of Mors on the northern part of Jutland, Denmark in the picturesque town of Nykobing.

Nykobing has a long tradition in Danish cricket where the sport has been a large part of the town's sporting picture for many years. However, Denmark, and also the Netherlands, will on paper always struggle in comparison to Ireland and Scotland simply because they don’t play that much cricket in this age group. Tradition says it will be a struggle between Ireland and Scotland for the title although Netherlands surprised last year with a win over Scotland which left all three countries with the same points.

The Under-13 Championship has been won by Ireland since 2000 so that brings a weight of expectation, but captain Ben Wylie is the sole survivor from last year in Copenhagen. However, Scotland seem to be taking the tournament very seriously with the team playing warm-up matches against Cleveland and Durham.

Last year Netherlands’ youth development was under the control of Roland Lefebvre and his work has begun to show results as Netherlands managed a win over Scotland as well as last-place Denmark.

Denmark will be fielding a side with three faces seen last year in Copenhagen. This year the team will be coached by Mickey Lund who works as the Danish Development Officer.