Uganda benefit from World Cup experience

Sam Walusimbi, Uganda’s Under-19 coach, said the World Cup was a learning curve to the side that finished 14th out of the 16 playing nations.

Uganda participated for the second time after their maiden appearance in Bangladesh 2004, notched two victories, one against Ireland in a warm-up matches, and then against Scotland in the Plate Championship.

"It was a great learning experience for the boys and I have no regrets for such a sounding exposure they got after playing against test playing nations ranked best in the World," Walusimbi said.

The U-19 tournament produced its fair share of great stories, with Bangladesh qualifying for the Super League for the first time in their history before going on to win the Super League play-offs to finish fifth.

ICC associate member Nepal beat South Africa and New Zealand to win the Plate Championship and the United States of America took part in the event for the first time.

"We were definitely not the worst losers after seeing highly-ranked countries making pathetic scores in the tournament,” Walusimbi said. “In every other match we were showing steady improvement and surely the boys will be a side to reckon with in future if they put the good they have learnt into their cricketing careers.”

The side produced the youngest player in the history of the U-19 World Cup, Emmanuel Nakaana (14), who was closely followed by the ICC analysts during the tournament. Patrick Ochan stood out from the crowd with a priceless Man-of-the-Match award after leading Uganda to victory against Scotland.

Team manager Justine Ligyalingi hailed the discipline of the boys and acknowledged it was the best group of youngsters he had managed in the past. He said: "With such good discipline, a lot is ahead for the boys and with consistency they would get the best out of their careers.”