The ICC Americas Under 19 Regional Qualifier for next year�s Under 19 Cricket World Cup takes place at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club, King City (Ontario) from Monday July 6th to Saturday July 11th. Argentina, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands and USA compete for the Americas Regional Championship as well as two spots in the subsequent global Under 19 Cricket World Cup qualifier.

The top two teams in the round-robin standings will advance to that global qualifier. The key matches in the Americas event - on paper - are expected involve Canada, Bermuda and the USA. The USA faces Bermuda on July 8, then Canada on July 10. Canada and Bermuda are set to meet in the last round of matches on Saturday July 11. But individual feats with the bat or ball, or weather interventions can produce surprises.

Bermuda won the 2007 ICC Americas Under 19 championship in 2007, a win that took them to the 2008 Under 19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia. The deciding game was a 13 run win over Canada on the last day. Bermuda reached 198 for 8 from 50 overs, aided by a late assault from Stefan Kelly, who struck an unbeaten 52 from 55 balls. Rustum Bhatti tried valiantly to steer Canada to success with a knock of 65 not out, after the middle order batting failed, but the hosts ended on 181 for 9 wickets when the overs ran out.

The USA missed the 2007 tournament due to an ICC administrative suspension and will be keen to impress. The senior US side won last November�s ICC Americas championship, pushing Bermuda into second place and leaving Canada third.

This tournament operates under the umbrella of the Pepsi ICC Development Program. Matches are 50 overs per side with play scheduled to begin at 10 am each day. Maple Leaf Cricket Club is at the north-east corner of Dufferin Street and 15th Sideroad in King City.

Returning players from the 2007 Americas U19 Championship

Bermuda has four players returning from its 2007 squad: Terryn Fray, Chris Douglas, Jordan De Silva and Greg Maybury. Fray struck 119 against Argentina, a match where left-arm pace bowler Maybury went on to take 4 wickets for 19 runs. All four Bermudians, plus Pierre Smith, were in Bermuda�s 2008 Under 19 World Cup Squad. Douglas made his senior ODI debut last summer during the Scotiabank Series, taking a liking to conditions at Maple Leaf CC with scores of 69 against Canada, and 53 against the West Indies.

Six of the Canadian squad played in 2007, including Rustum Bhatti, who adds the role of captain to his normal tasks as a wicketkeeper/batsman. Left-handed opening bat Ruvindu Gunasekera, Abishek Krishnamoorthy, Asif Manjra, Riyazkhan Pathan and Arsalan Qadir are the other Canadian players complete the returning Canadians from the 2007 tournament.

Gunasekera struck a mighty 155 runs from 103 balls against the Bahamas in that event as Canada amassed 423 all out. Qadir took five wickets for just six runs in the match with the Cayman Islands, and Manjra took three wickets for nine runs against Argentina.

Cayman Islands are lead by Ramon Sealy, who scored three half-centuries as an opening batsman in 2007. His best effort was an unbeaten 76 against Argentina, after a fine spell of bowling by Sacha De Alwis, who also returns for the Caymanians, had brought the Argentinian innings to an early end. De Alwis took five wickets for 16 runs. Sealy scored 67 against Bermuda and 66 against Bahamas.

Argentina struggled to make runs in 2007, but has six returning players, including Augusto Mustafa. His innings of 34 against the Cayman Islands was the best individual effort for Argentina last tournament. He and his colleagues will hope for a better fate this time.

Marc Taylor captains the Bahamas, and is one of five returning players for his country. He posted the best individual score of 40 for Bahamas in the 2007 tournament, against Canada.

Emerging talent from the ICC Americas Under-15 ranks

The highly promising right-handed batsman Nitesh Kumar, who captained Canada to the ICC Americas Regional Under-15 championship in 2008, is set to make his debut at this level. He is also a useful off-spin bowler and captained the ICC Americas Under-15 squad in last year�s CLICO International Under-15 tournament in the West Indies.

Other ICC Americas Under-15 CLICO squad members due to play in this Under 19 tournament include: Abhijit Joshi and Steven Taylor (USA); Joshua Gilbert and wicketkeeper Sinclair Smith (Bermuda); Jermaine Adderley and Rudolph Fox (Bahamas); Shane Cato and Dale Parker (Cayman Islands).

Joshi was the Americas leading run getting, compiling 265 runs with a top score of 70. Steven Taylor�s best score was 60. Captain Kumar also made one half-century.

Tournament Schedule

  • Monday July 6: Argentina v Bermuda; Bahamas v USA; Canada v Cayman Islands
  • Tuesday July 7: Cayman Islands v Bermuda; Bahamas v Canada; USA v Argentina
  • Wednesday July 8: USA v Bermuda; Cayman Islands v Bahamas; Argentina v Canada
  • Thursday July 9: Rest day
  • Friday July 10: Argentina v Cayman Islands; Bermuda v Bahamas; Canada v USA
  • Saturday July 1: Bahamas v Argentina; Canada v Bermuda; USA v Cayman Islands

Playing Squads

Argentina: Alejo Tissera (Capt) Pedro Arrighi, Thomas Arrighi, Mateo Arrighi, Horacio Esperon, Sebastian Fennell, Ignacio Fermani, Gabriel Gonsalez Sutil, Augustin Husain, Santiago Iritxity Irigoyen, Lautaro Augustin Musiani, Augusto Mustafa, Santiago Paez Nicoletti, and Martin Rost.

Bahamas: Marc Taylor (Capt), Jermaine Adderley, Ashmeid Allie, Turan Brown, Adrian Dean, Rudolph Fox, Shridat Jadoo, Julio Jemison, Fritz Stubbs, Anwar Sawyer, Kiran Seeram, Orlando Stuart, Odane Tucker, and Tevyn Williams.

Bermuda: Terryn Fray (Capt), Christopher Douglas, Deunte Darrell, Jordan De Silva, Staphen Dill, Kevon Fubler, Joshua Gilbert, Kamau Leverock, Greg Maybury, Tre Manders, Regino Smith, Sinclair Smith, Pierre Smith, and Laheef Trott.

Canada: Rustum Bhatti (capt), Maninder Jill Singh Auklah, Darius D�Souza, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Abishek Krishnamoorthy, Nitesh Kumar, Hardik Kotak, Usman Limbada, Asif Manjra, Zain Mahmood, Riayzkhan Pathan, Hiral Patel and Arsalan Qadir and Hamza Tarique.

Cayman Islands: Ramon Sealy (Capt), Correy Cato, Darren Cato, Shane Cato, Anthony Dawes, Sacha De Alwis, Rhojel Gayle, Zachary McLaughlin, Michael Outar, Dale Parker, Deighton Parker, Nicholas Roberts, Darado Thompson, and John Tweedie.

USA: Abhijit Joshi, Steven Taylor, Gregory Raj Sewdial, Muhammad Asad Ghous, Shiva Vashishat, Yash Dipak Shah, Saami Muneeb Siddidui, Salman Rashid Ahmad, Azurdeen Mohammed, Muhammad Talha Zamir, Henry Wardley, Naseer Jamali, Regis Gregory Burton and Ryan Gary Corns.