ICC Under 19 World Cup

Kenya to host ICC Under-19 World Cup qualifiers 

 Muriithi said that trials to select the boys, who will represent the country in the qualifiers, will be held in Nairobi and Mombasa. Nairobi will host the International Cricket Council Africa Under-19 qualifiers from July 1-10 to pick the team that will represent the continent in the 2018 World Cup in New Zealand. Cricket Kenya general manager Josephat Muriithi on Wednesday confirmed Kenya will host the African qualifiers to the Under-19 World Cup set for January 12 to February 4. Uganda, Botswana, Ghana and hosts Kenya will battle it out for the remaining sole slot reserved for Africa in New Zealand. The triumphant side in Nairobi will join Namibia, who got an automatic qualification for the New Zealand event for being the highest ranked associate team in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh. Muriithi said that trials to select the boys, who will represent the country in the qualifiers, will be held in Nairobi and Mombasa. He said that Nairobi will hold its trials this weekend that will include promising boys from Nakuru while Mombasa will carry out their selection on May 13 and 14. Former Kenya’s national team captain Jimmy Kamande has been training some boys in Nairobi. He said that he has high hopes of Kenya doing well in the tournament. This is one event that has evaded Kenyan youngsters ever since the qualifications for the Under-19 World Cup were introduced. Kenya’s senior national team appeared in five successive World Cups since they made their debut in 1996 in the event jointly hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The revival of Kenya’s national team, that took a nosedive after reaching the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, depends on the performance of the Under-19 lads in the international arena.