Suriname pull out of ICC Americas U-19 Championship

Suriname's anticipated debut at the ICC Americas Under-19 Division One championship will have to wait at least another two years after the team was forced to withdraw from the event starting on Sunday in Bermuda. According to an ICC release, the U-19 Division Two champions had to pull out after failing to secure transit visas.

A source told ESPNcricinfo that because there were no direct flights from Suriname to Bermuda, the squad needed to secure visas to transit through either the USA or Canada in order to get to Bermuda. However, the visa applications were not processed in time.

The tournament's format originally stipulated that the four competing teams - Bermuda, USA, Canada and Suriname - would play an initial round-robin stage after which the lowest-ranked team on the points table would be eliminated before commencing a second round-robin stage with the three remaining teams. Instead, USA, Bermuda and Canada will play a double round-robin amongst themselves, as was the format in 2013.

The first-place team in Bermuda gains automatic entry into the 2016 ICC U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh. The runner-up will have a second chance at qualification in a global qualifier comprised of runner-up teams from other ICC Associate regions due to be held in Nepal later this year.

In addition to the 10 Full Members who received automatic entry, other teams to have qualified for next year's U-19 World Cup include Afghanistan, Namibia and Fiji while the runner-up teams who have gained a spot at the repechage qualifier are Nepal, Uganda and Papua New Guinea. The ICC Europe U-19 Qualifier begins on July 11 in Jersey.