The captains at the press conference.
By Akanimo Kufre
Six African Nations will begin hostilities for the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifiers slated for 28th March to 6th April 2025 in Lagos.
Consequently, the U19 cricket captains from Kenya, Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and host Nigeria were at the Tafawa Belewa Square (TBS), Lagos in a press conference on Thursday, March 27, ahead of the Qualifiers.
The six African nations emerged from three sub regional qualifiers to the last leg of the road to ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2026.
The 8-day tournament would be played at TBS and University of Lagos Cricket Oval in a round-robin format and the winner will qualify for the ICC World Cup tournament to be cohosted by Namibia and Zimbabwe.
The two runners up will remain in Division 1, while the last three will be relegated to Division 2 ranking.
From ICC ranking, Namibia or Uganda would be the favorite teams to win the trophy and ticket. However, age grade categories in cricket competition do always come with its shocker and upsets.
Fad Du Plessis, Namibian captain, was optimistic about grabbing the sole ticket because they “would stick to playing good cricket and stick to roles and plans.”
Nigeria’s U19, Men’s captain, Gafar Kareem, said his team will get the ticket by doing the basic thing at the right time and “we are greatly inspired by what the U19 Women’s Cricket team did in Malaysia in January 2025.”