Canada likely to be tested by Bermuda in Americas U/19 Qualifier

Canada faces a stiff challenge from Bermuda in its bid to return to the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup when the five-team round-robin Americas U/19 Qualifier begins at Mapleleaf CC, King City in Toronto from Monday.

Argentina, the Caymans Islands and debutants Bahamas are the other teams taking part in the week-long competition. The winner will join the ICC's 10 Full Members, hosts Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea and Ireland (which recently qualified from the East-Asia Pacific and European Regions respectively) at the 16-team ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup to be played from 17 February to 2 March 2008 in Malaysia.

Canada missed the 2006 event in Sri Lanka but participated in the 2002 and 2004 ICC U/19 Cricket World Cups in New Zealand and Bangladesh respectively.

Familiar home conditions, an improving infrastructure and more international exposure helps Canada to start as firm favourites and coach Courtney Gonsalves is optimistic that his players are ready for the event. He said: "All the players attended the elite programme we started last October in which we set up talent hunt and training camps throughout Canada.

"Our goal is to qualify for next year's ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia and I am sure that the combination of this elite programme along with exposure in the premier division will help us achieve our target."

However, Canada is likely to be tested by Bermuda which has been bolstered by the inclusion of all-rounders Malachi Jones and Stefan Kelly, who participated in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies while the youngsters' captain Rodney Trott narrowly missed the Caribbean tour. The trio will rejoin the senior Bermuda team for the match against Ireland in the ICC Intercontinental Cup after completing the Toronto assignment.

Bermuda coach Arnold Manders believes his team's hopes of earning a finals berth are better than ever. He said: "I think our chances of winning (the Americas U/19 Qualifier) are greater than previous years because we have played more matches as a team and the players are confident in their individual roles."

Bermuda prepared for the tournament by playing eight domestic 50-overs-a-side competition matches between May and June besides participating in the Sir Garfield Sobers Cricket Tournament in Barbados which was also used as a training camp for the Americas U/19 Qualifier.

"We have worked tirelessly on the team concept, and the individual discipline of the players have really improved. Our team this year is mentally stronger (than previously) and combined with the intense training the players received from the coaches, this should result in a good team combination. The players have the knowledge and now they need to produce," said Manders.

Argentina has previously struggled at the junior level but it would be dangerous to discount the South Americans, particularly after the senior team's heroics in Darwin in June where it earned promotion to Div. 2 by qualifying for the final of the ICC World Cricket League Div. 3.

Middle-order batsman Pedro Bruno, left-arm seam bowler Santiago Irigoyen and all-rounders Ignacio Redruello and Tomas Birnie were part of that successful campaign in Darwin but coach Hamish Barton is modest and, instead of making big predictions, has set his sights on winning at least once in Toronto. He said: "Basically our main goal is to win one game. We feel this is a realistic goal for the Argentine team considering the team's past performances and the stage of its development."

Barton said the sport is still in the embryonic stage in Argentina and the team has prepared as best it can in the tough winter season. "The players are very much in the development stage and we are aiming to do the basics right and achieve our specific goals for each skill area, the experience and exposure to international cricket.

"The team has prepared as best it could as it is winter in Argentina at the moment and training has been extremely difficult at times. But the team has trained well and the development of the players over the last three months has been very pleasing," Barton said.

The Caymans Islands has always been very competitive at youth level and nobody is expecting it to be far behind this time. Captain Ramon Sealy, along with top-order batsman Darren Cato and bowler Kervin Ebanks have played in the Caymans Islands domestic Division 1 tournaments for the last two years.

Sealy sees batting as his team's strength. He said: "I think the team has a good chance of winning because we have a strong batting line-up which is not only capable of setting high totals but chasing them as well."

Bahamas is the only Affiliate Member in the group and is fielding a team for the first time. The senior team will participate in next year's ICC World Cricket League Div. 5 to be played in Jersey in May.

Bahamas captain Gregory Taylor hopes that the Americas U/19 Qualifier will help his country's cause of earning ICC's Associate Membership. He said: "We hope to achieve recognition as an Affiliate power house and to show the ICC and the world that we are ready to become an Associate Member of the ICC."

Taylor said playing age-group cricket is a new development for the Bahamas. "Two years ago we did not have a full U/19 team, but we worked hard under the guidance of coach John Welch to achieve this.

"Jonathan Barry, Jeremy Jesubatham, Rodrick Mitchel and I came up in the U/15 program from 2001 and have played a lot of cricket with the seniors," Taylor said.

The United States of America (USA), which took part in its first ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2006 and beat Namibia, is absent from the qualifier because it is currently suspended as an ICC Member.

Argentina: Juan Tomas Birnie (captain), Alejo Tissera, Augusto Mustafa, Facundo Duggan, Hernan Fennell, Horacio Esperon, Ignacio Fermani, Ignacio Redruello, Juan Pablo Bordacahar, Pablo Siracusa, Pedro Bruno, Ramiro Rodriguez Delgado, Santiago Iritxity Irigoyen, Santiago Paez Nicoletti. Christian Tunon (manager), Hamish Barton (coach) and Esteban MacDermott (assistant coach).

Bahamas: Gregory Taylor (captain), Adrian Dean, Ambry Moss, Anwar Sawyer, Corie Frazer, Franz Taylor, Fritz Stubbs, Jeremy Jesubatham, Jermaine Adderley, Jonathan Barry, LaSalle Thompson, Marc Taylor, Rodrick Mitchel, Rudolph Fox. Paul Thompson (manager) and John Welch (coach).

Bermuda: Rodney Trott (captain), Christopher Douglas, Dennico Hollis, Greg Maybury, Hodsoll Kyle, Jordan De Silva, Khiry Furbert, Lamar Richardson, Malachi Jones, Marico Bassett, Stefan Kelly, Steven Bremar Jr, Tamauri Tucker, Terryne Fray. Gerald Bean (manager), Arnold Manders (coach), Andre Manders and Cleveland Wade (assistant coaches).

Canada: Abishek Krisnamoorthy (captain), Chris Monohar (vice-captain), Arsalan Qadir, Asif Manjra, Hasan Raza Zaidi, Jaskeerat Singh Kalon, Kevin James, Khushal Gangopadhyay, Majid Usman, Pratik Patel, Riayzkhan Pathan, Rustum Bhatti, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Usman Iqubal. Wijay Senathirajah (manager), Courtney Gonsalves (coach) and Dan Keisel (Physio).

Cayman Islands: Ramon Sealy (captain), Corey Cato, Dale Parker, Darado Thompson, Darren Cato, Earl Hart, Kervin Ebanks, Patrick McConvey, Robert Hewitt, Sacha DeAlwis, Shane Cato, Vincent Ebanks, Zachary McLaughlin. Ricardo Sealy (manager), Theo Cuffy (coach), Andy Myles (assistant coach).

Schedule:
13 August: Argentina v Cayman Islands, Bahamas v Bermuda
14 August: Bermuda v Cayman Islands, Canada v Argentina
15 August: Rest Day
16 August: Canada v Bahamas, Argentina v Bermuda
17 August: Canada v Cayman Islands, Argentina v Bahamas
18 August: Cayman Islands v Bahamas, Bermuda v Canada

The ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup is a vital part of the ICC Development Program and provides a vehicle for the best young cricketers in the world to parade their skills.

Many of the future stars of the game experience their first true international exposure at this tournament and players such as Brian Lara, Michael Atherton, Yuvraj Singh, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris Cairns, Michael Clarke, Graeme Smith and Sanath Jayasuriya have used the event as a stepping stone to full international honours.

First staged in Australia in 1988, the tournament was initially organised on an occasional basis, but since the commencement of the ICC Development Program in 1997 it has become a biennial fixture.

The 2010 ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup will be held in Kenya while the 2012 tournament will be staged in Canada and UAE will host the 2014 edition.