ICC President Ehsan Mani's speech at closing dinner of ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup

Honorable Minister for Youth & Sports, Mr. Mohammad Fazlur Rahman, President BCB, Mr. Mohammad Ali Asghar, U/19 cricketers, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

Good evening

It is with immense satisfaction that I stand in front of you tonight on the eve of the Super League final. This has been the most spectacular ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup the world has ever seen.

From the stunning Opening Ceremony on 10 February to the carnival atmosphere at the Plate Final today this tournament has been fantastically well-supported by the people of this cricket-loving nation.

The tournament will leave a strong legacy of international-standard facilities across the country.

It has taken international cricket to new towns for the first time. The young players have done battle in front of record crowds in Bogra, Fatullah, Khulna and Rajshahi. The traditional venues of Chittagong and Dhaka have also seen some fantastic cricket.

It has sparked nationwide interest in the sport which will help accelerate the development of the game throughout Bangladesh.

My time in Bangladesh has given me a glimpse of the future of our sport and I like what I have seen.

This tournament has included some terrific matches. Nepal's thrilling victory over South Africa and Ireland's agonising 6-run defeat to the West Indies are two good examples of how well our emerging cricket nations performed.

There have also been eye-catching displays from the next generation of international players. History tells us that it won't be long before the cream of this crop of talented batsmen and bowlers will follow in the footsteps of Brian Lara, Sanath Jayasuriya and Graeme Smith to become Test and One Day International stars.

Over 200,000 spectators have attended the matches in Bangladesh and, for the first time, ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup games have been broadcast live in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe.

I offer sincere thanks to Her Excellency the Prime Minister and Government of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Cricket Board for their commitment and superb support for this tournament.

BCB has been outstanding in the way this event has been run. Their unstinting commitment and close co-operation with the ICC has been a key to the success of the tournament.

For the last three and a half weeks, the world has been watching and, I am pleased to say, Bangladesh has delivered.

Many hundreds of staff and volunteers have dedicated the last few months of their lives to making this tournament a success. I would like to congratulate them for a job well done and thank them for their dedication and tremendous efforts.

I also thank our commercial partners Global Cricket Corporation, our sponsors LG Electronics, Pepsi and Hutch and our valued broadcast partners.

I thank all the competing teams for the professional manner in which you have conducted yourselves on and off the field. All of you have been excellent ambassadors for your countries. Your presence here has been warmly received and I hope you have enjoyed your stay and will take back many special memories from the tournament.

Many congratulations to Bangladesh for their victory in the Plate Championship final today and to Shikhar Dhawan for claiming the Man of the Tournament prize.

With 53 of the 54 matches completed, I wish good luck to Pakistan and West Indies in tomorrow's final.

Thank you.

For Further Information:

Jon Long
ICC Event Media Manager
In Bangladesh: 01750 17668
International: +44 (0) 7946 545 090
Email: jon.long@icc-cricket.com