Toronto (Canada): The qualifying event for the Americas region for the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup will be held here from Friday with four teams ready for a week of fierce competition.
The hosts Canada, Argentina, Bermuda and the USA will compete in the Americas Qualifier with the aim to secure the 16th and final berth in the global showpiece event -– the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2024, where the best young cricketers on the planet will feature.
Between August 11-18, 12 matches are set to take place across two historic venues in the city, the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club -– one of the oldest cricket clubs in the country dating back to 1827, and the Maple Leaf Cricket Club.
Canada have a strong record at this event having emerged victorious in each of the past five U19 Qualifier tournaments, and they will be hoping to start well once more in their opening match against Argentina, while in the other fixture that day, the USA take on Bermuda.
With only one spot up for grabs, the round-robin format will see the table-topping side secure passage through to the U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, which returns to Sri Lanka for the first time since 2006.
Awaiting the victors will be a spot alongside other regional winners in the pathway; Nepal (Asia), New Zealand (EAP), Namibia (Africa), and the winners of the Europe Qualifier, which concludes on Saturday.
These teams will compete alongside 11 automatically qualified nations by being the best-placed Full Member nations at the previous event in 2022, including defending champions India.
In all, 16 teams will be competing in the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Sri Lanka 2024 over 41 matches. As of now, 11 teams have automatically qualified for the event as the best-placed Full Member nations from the previous event in 2022. The teams already qualified are Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe.
The remaining five spots are determined through regional qualification pathways, with one team from each region securing a place at the event.
–IANS