Robert O'Donnell to lead NZ Under-19s

Robert O'Donnell, the right-handed batsman, will lead New Zealand in the 2014 Under-19 World Cup in the UAE from February 14 to March 1. O'Donnell, from Auckland, was part of the squad for the previous edition of the tournament in 2012, in which New Zealand reached the semi-finals.

The U-19 team's previous one-day series was at the Top End tri-series in Australia in July 2013. The coach Grant Bradburn said the players had been working hard in the build-up to the World Cup.

"We're confident in the team we've selected and believe that they have the ability to do something special in UAE. These players are the future of our sport and they recognise the responsibility that comes with that," Bradburn said.

"The strides they've made over the past 12 months have been really pleasing and they can take real confidence from that growth. The tournament will be hugely valuable in terms of continuing that growth going forward - in saying that, we're certainly going there to try and win it and I believe we have a good chance."

New Zealand will depart for the UAE on February 7 and play two warm-up games, against Canada and West Indies. They play their first Group D game against Sri Lanka on February 14, before taking on UAE two days later and England on February 18.

Squad: Robert O'Donnell (capt), Jeremy Benton, Leo Carter, Henry Collier, Josh Finnie, Shawn Hicks, Jack Hunter, Kyle Jamieson, Ken McClure, Brett Randell, Tim Seifert, Dane Watson, Kurtley Watson, Luke Williamson, Rakitha Weerasundara