Chand confident with mixture of youth and experience

Botswana captain Akrum Chand is confident that his aggressive approach will help his side as they host the World Cricket League Division 7.

Chand, who previously captained in 2006, feels his experience will also be important for the side. "I wasn't able to travel to Jersey in 2006 due to injury nor did I travel to Singapore for Division 6 in 2009 but I have captained the side previously and I'm looking forward to leading them again in this event," he said.

"I believe in being aggressive when it comes to our game - it will be about being on the offensive and not defensive when it comes to our matches."

"We've been working very hard ahead of this tournament with the side dedicating the last six months to preparing for the event. We've been to Zimbabwe and South Africa for camps and I feel as a side we're well prepared for the event.

"The team is a mixture of youth and experience with a few players coming up from the under-19 side. Part-time wicketkeeper-batsman Karabo Motlhanka, all-rounder Waseem Tajbhay as well as fast bowler Segolame Ramatu are all good prospects in the side while we've experience in the likes of James Moses who has been playing for Botswana for over 10 years and knows what the team is about and how to guide the players if needs be.

Kuwait and Germany are the new sides in the division and Chand conceded they will be an unfamiliar challenge. "We don't know huge amounts about the promoted teams for this event," he said. "But our coach Arjun Menon has worked with some of the other sides in the tournament and has given us some good background to help us prepare. When it comes down to it we will be focusing on our own game and see what we have on day of the games."

Chand admitted the rain in Botswana is a little bit of a concern at the moment but he is confident conditions will be fine come the event. "Although it has been raining a bit this week, I think we should be ok for when the tournament begins. We're playing on AstroTurf so we can probably expect the ball to bounce and skid a little while the outfields are looking great. One bonus is we're moving into winter so the temperature is a lot better for playing cricket, around 27 degrees rather than the usual 45!"