Men’s U-19 cricket team preps for world cup qualifiers

• But team has limited practice time because it includes students
• Will play five one-day international (ODI) prep matches in Bulawayo
• Botswana to host inaugural ICC Women’s U-19 T20 Africa Qualifiers

The continental tournament will be hosted in Abuja, Nigeria between 21^st September and 2^nd October 2022 where teams from eight African nations – Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Botswana, Rwanda and Mozambique – will tussle against each other. The two finalists at the tournament will advance to the Africa Division 1 qualifier. “Preparations for the qualifiers are going well,” team coach Joseph Angara said in a telephone interview. “We had a week training camp during the school midterm break.

“That camp showed us areas that we need to improve in and I must note that we have a lot of work to do. This is because we are working with school-going players and the only best time to work with them is during weekends, which is not adequate. But we are doing our best in the limited time.” To enhance their preparations for the continental qualification tournament, the Botswana team will play five one-day international (ODI) matches in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe between 7 and 15 August. “This is going to be a good exposure for the boys who have never been out of Botswana to play competitive cricket,” Angara noted.

Meanwhile, Botswana has been chosen to host the inaugural ICC Women’s U-19 T20 Africa Qualifiers between 1st and 13 September 2022 in Gaborone. The game will be played at the Botswana Cricket Association Oval Grounds. The Africa Qualifiers will be a nine-team event comprising Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leona, Tanzania and Uganda. The winner from this tournament will proceed directly to the World Cup. It is the first time that ICC will be conducting a Women’s U-19 T20 World Cup that is to be played in South Africa in January 2023.