Captain Clapham confident of success on home soil

The Sarnians have announced a strong squad for the tournament with virtually all of the players having top-flight experience locally and the skipper believes they are capable of progressing.

‘Obviously I’m very excited for the tournament, as I know everyone else is,’ he said.

‘It’s great to be playing other nations for the first time in a few years.

‘With the strong squad we have, I am confident we can win the tournament and qualify for the next stage of the ICC U19 Men’s World Cup.’

The tournament sees eight split into two groups with Guernsey drawn in Group A along with France, Germany, and Italy. Group B comprises Norway, Denmark, Isle of Man and Sweden.

The top two teams in each group will play semi-finals and then a third-place play-off and final to determine the three teams who will move forward to the Europe Division One Qualifier.

The other teams will play off against each other to determine the fifth-to-eighth placings.

The 50-over matches start on Friday 5 August with the final on Thursday 11 August. The artificial pitches at the KGV, the College Field, Memorial Field and Port Soif will all be in use on match days.

‘We are thrilled to be able to bring ICC Pathway event competition back to Guernsey after last hosting the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier in 2019,’ said Guernsey Cricket chief executive Mark Latter.

‘This allows the boys to show how good they are and perform in front of family and friends and the whole island, who we hope will turn out in force to cheer the Greens on.

‘The squad is training enthusiastically under the guidance of Ben Ferbrache and Lee Forshaw and I am sure, like me, they cannot wait to get going with the competition.

‘We are looking forward to welcoming all the teams to Guernsey and we have a great team, led by Carl Brooks as host tournament director, to put on a great show.’

ICC development manager Europe Andrew Wright added: ‘It was a real shame that this event wasn’t able to take place in 2020 due to the pandemic but the entire Guernsey Cricket Board team have done a great job in preparing for an event which will bring both strong cricket and economic legacy to the bailiwick.

‘We know how much the youngsters from the eight participating countries are looking forward to competing in August in what will mark the beginning of the road to the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2024.’

ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup

Europe Division Two Qualifier

Guernsey U19 squad

Ollie Clapham (captain), Charlie Birch, Dan Brown, Blake Carre, Adam de la Mare, Harry Duke, Max Johnson, Joe Marshall (wk), Fintan Ridgwick (wk), Louis Steyn, Dan Thomas, Marcus Thomas, Charlie Forshaw, Harry Johnson.

Management team: Lee Forshaw, Ben Ferbrache, Mandy Le Messurier.

Fixtures (11am start)

Friday 5 August

Norway v Denmark, KGV; Isle of Man v Sweden, CF; Guernsey v France, MF; Germany v Italy, PS.

Saturday 6 August

Guernsey v Germany, KGV; France v Italy, CF; Norway v Isle of Man, MF; Denmark v Sweden, PS.

Monday 8 August

Sweden v Norway, KGV; Italy v Guernsey, CF; France v Germany, MF; Denmark v Isle of Man, PS.

Tuesday 9 August

Semi-finals – A1 v B2, KGV; B1 v A2, CF; A3 v B4, MF; B3 v A4, PS.

Thursday 11 August

Play-offs – Final, KGV; Third-place, CF; Fifth place, MF; Seventh place, PS.