Scotland Men U19s get their 2024 ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup campaign underway on Saturday morning, as they take on England live on Sky Sports.
For Owen Gould and his side, the competition signals an opportunity to leave a real mark, having been drawn in a group with full member nations England, South Africa and the West Indies.
And first-up is a meeting with England, which brings a mixture of excitement and nerves for the Scotland skipper and his charges.
“We’re all pretty buzzing to get going on Saturday,” said Gould.
“I think there’s a little bit of nerves going around, and seeing everyone on Instagram with all the media stuff going on, it’s starting to get a bit real, so we’re a bit nervous, but mainly excited.
“I think trying to deny nerves is not a good way to go about it, so it’s more about seeing that nerves are a good thing, that it means we’re excited, looking forward to it and that we care about it, so it’s about using those nerves to make us even stronger on the pitch.”
Saturday will mark the first of two scheduled fixtures between Scotland and England on the world stage in 2024, with the two nations also drawn together in Group B of this year’s Men’s T20 World Cup.
Gould continued: “I think that makes it even more exciting for us, playing in that iconic rivalry. We don’t get a whole lot of opportunities to play England, so when we do it’s pretty special, and we’re obviously the reigning champions in that fixture if you like from 2018, so I think that just adds to it all.
“It’s definitely a game we’re all looking forward to, we got asked on the media day which game we’re looking forward to the most, and I think a pretty common answer was this one because of the iconic rivalry, and the fact that we don’t get to play them all that often.
“Generally speaking there is a bit more pressure on England, and as a team we don’t feel a lot of pressure, but obviously we are looking to come in here and put in a strong performance.”
The Under 19 World Cup remains an important stage in the development of international cricketers, highlighted by the progression of Jack Jarvis and Tom Mackintosh, who both received their Scotland caps this year after featuring in the previous edition of this competition.
“It was mentioned in one of our meetings the other day that the coaches would love to come away from this tournament and say to the senior boys that these guys should be coming on tour with you lot, so it is for sure something we think about, but I think for now it’s all just about focusing on putting out some big performances at the Under 19s level.
“I think a successful tournament for us, obviously we’d love to come out of it with a win, is to enjoy the experience and get as much learning out of it as possible, I think that’s what an Under 19s World Cup is all about, show off what we can do on the big stage and enjoy it.”
Scotland Men U19s take on England on Saturday morning live on Sky Sports Mix from 7:45am, with the game also available to view on ICC TV.
