NZ appoint Finnie as captain for Under-19 World Cup

Otago offspinner Josh Finnie has been named captain of the New Zealand squad for the Under-19 World Cup, which starts in Bangladesh from January 27. This will be Finnie's second appearance at the Under-19 World Cup, after the 2014 edition in UAE where he played two matches.

Finnie will lead a 15-man squad which includes Northern Districts pace bowler Zak Gibson, who was recently named the first recipient of the NZC Maori Cricket Scholarship, presented in conjunction with the 2015 Maori Sports Awards.

The squad was named at the end of the National Under-19s tournament at NZC's high-performance center in Lincoln, and comprises of five players from Auckland, three from Central Districts, two each from Otago, Wellington and Canterbury, and one from Northen Districts.

The squad will travel to the UAE for a pre-series preparatory triangular tournament against Australia and Pakistan. They will play two warm-up games in Bangladesh - against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan - before their first Group D match against Nepal on January 28. New Zealand's other group matches are against India (January 30) and Australia (February 1).

New Zealand Under-19 coach Bob Carter said the players were working hard in their preparations and the side would be well prepared for their World Cup opener.

"It's an extremely talented group of young players and we'll head to Bangladesh with high expectations," Carter said. "These players are the future of our sport and they recognise the responsibility that comes with that.

"It's an exciting opportunity, and we're looking forward to it. There's still plenty of work to go into our preparation, but we'll be ready to go come 28 January."

New Zealand U-19 squad: Josh Finnie (captain), Finnley Allen, Josh Clarkson, Zak Gibson, Christian Leopard, Felix Murray, Aniket Parikh, Dale Phillips, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Talor Scott, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Daniel Stanley, Ross ter Braak