After making the final of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup two years ago, England will be aiming to go one better in South Africa this time around.
Selected games will be shown live on Sky Sports, including Friday’s opener between hosts South Africa and West Indies, England’s clash with Scotland on Saturday and the final on February 11.
Read on for all you need to know about the young guns World Cup…
Haydon Mustard, son of former England wicketkeeper Phil, is in the England squad
How long has the tournament been going on?
The Under-19 World Cup, then billed as the Youth Cricket World Cup, was first staged in Australia in 1988, with players needing to be 18 or younger at the start of 1987 to be eligible.
It would be 10 years before the Under-19 World Cup as we have come to know it was staged again. England went and won the thing in 1998, beating New Zealand in the final. Their victorious squad included Rob Key, Graeme Swann and Owais Shah.
England won the 1998 Under-19 World Cup with Owais Shah (pictured) part of their squad
The tournament has been staged every two years since but it took England until 2022 to make a second final, with a side captained by Hampshire’s Tom Prest ultimately edged out by India.
Where is the event taking place?
South Africa, with games to be played in Potchefstroom, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, East London and Benoni.
Sri Lanka were set to be the hosts but were stripped of that privilege after the nation was suspended by the International Cricket Council for “government interference”.
How does it work?
The 16 teams are separated into four groups of four with the top three in each pool advancing to the Super Six stage. Those progressing from Groups A and Group D will be in one pool, with the qualifying teams from Groups B and C in another. The top two in each Super Six pool reach the semi-finals.
Group A: USA, India, Ireland, Bangladesh
Group B: England, Scotland, South Africa, West Indies
Group C: Australia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Sri Lanka
Group D: Pakistan, Afghanistan, New Zealand, Nepal
Farhan Ahmed, brother of England star Rehan, is in the England squad
Those names sound familiar…
England’s squad for 2024 is laced with relatives of well-known cricketers, including Rehan Ahmed, Phil Mustard and Joe Denly.
Rehan, who took 12 wickets for the U19s in the 2022 tournament and has since played for the full England side in all three forms, will hope his 15-year-old brother, Farhan, can impress with his off-spin.
Former England, Durham and Gloucestershire wicketkeeper Mustard’s son Haydon, who also wears the gloves, is in, too, as well as Jayden Denly, the nephew of ex-England batter and part-time leg-spinner Joe, and Luc Benkenstein, the son of former Durham all-rounder Dale Benkenstein.
Which English players have pushed on most from 2022 tournament?
Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire): Rehan has gone on to full England honours since the 2022 Under-19 World Cup. The leg-spinner became England’s youngest men’s Test cricketer when he debuted against Pakistan in December 2022, marking the occasion with a five-wicket haul. He has since become their youngest player in one-day internationals and T20 internationals, too, and after impressing in the West Indies late last year, he looks poised to play in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Rehan Ahmed has played for the full England side in all three formats since impressing at the 2022 Under-19 Cricket World Cup
James Rew (Somerset): Wicketkeeper-batter Rew was named Young Player of the Year at the 2023 PCA Awards after scoring 1,086 County Championship runs, including five hundreds, at an average of 57.15. Only Lancashire’s Josh Bohannon and Essex’s Tom Westley managed more Division One runs than Rew, who became Somerset’s youngest-ever double centurion when he scored 221 against Hampshire in July at the age of 19 years and 181 days. A full England call-up surely beckons.
Tom Prest (Hampshire): Prest, who led the U19s as the last World Cup, was part of the Hampshire side that won the Vitality Blast in 2022, scoring 64 in the semi-final victory over Somerset. The batter has also scored two One-Day Cup centuries for his county, including 181 from 138 balls against Kent in 2022, and struck his maiden first-class ton against Essex in the September just gone, against an attack including Sam Cook, Jamie Porter, Simon Harmer and India seamer Umesh Yadav.
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup fixtures – all games 8am UK
Friday, January 19: Ireland v USA (Bloemfontein), South Africa v West Indies (Potchefstroom)
Saturday, January 20: Bangladesh v India (Bloemfontein), England v Scotland (Potchefstroom), Afghanistan v Pakistan (East London)
Sunday, January 21: Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe (Kimberley), Nepal v New Zealand (East London)
Monday, January 22: Bangladesh v Ireland (Bloemfontein), Australia v Namibia (Kimberley)
Tuesday, January 23: South Africa v England (Potchefstroom), Afghanistan v New Zealand (East London)
Wednesday, January 24: Namibia v Sri Lanka (Kimberley), Scotland v West Indies (Potchefstroom), Nepal v Pakistan (East London)
Thursday, January 25: India v Ireland (Bloemfontein), Australia v Zimbabwe (Kimberley)
Friday, January 26: Bangladesh v USA (Bloemfontein), England v West Indies (Potchefstroom), Afghanistan v Nepal (East London)
Saturday, January 27: Namibia v Zimbabwe (Kimberley), South Africa v Scotland (Potchefstroom), New Zealand v Pakistan (East London)
Sunday, January 28: India v USA (Bloemfontein), Australia v Sri Lanka (Kimberley)
Monday January 30: A1 v D2 (Bloemfontein), C2 v B3 (Kimberley), D1 v A3 (Potchefstroom)
Tuesday, January 31: A4 v D4 (Benoni), D3 v A2 (Bloemfontein), C1 v B2 (Kimberley), C3 v B1 (Potchefstroom)
Wednesday, February 1: B4 v C4 (Benoni)
Thursday, February 2: A1 v D3 (Bloemfontein), B3 v C1 (Kimberley), B1 v C2 (Potchefstroom)
Friday, February 3: D1 v A2 (Benoni), D2 v A3 (Bloemfontein), B2 v C3 (Potchefstroom)
Saturday, February 6: Semi-final 1 – AD1 v BC2 (Benoni)
February 8: Semi-final 2 – AD2 v BC1 (Benoni)
February 11: Final (Benoni)
Watch selected matches from the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup live on Sky Sports from Friday. England’s opening game against Scotland is live from 7.45am on Saturday on Sky Sports Mix (8am first ball).