The Scotland squad to compete at the 2024 ICC U19 Men’s World Cup in South Africa has been confirmed today.
The squad, led by captain Owen Gould, contains the bulk of the squad which ensured qualification by winning the Europe Qualifier in the Netherlands earlier this year. Head Coach Dan Sutton will be supported by a staff including Cedric English and Owen Dawkins (Assistant Coaches), Scott Hislen (Team Manager), Dr Sahen Gupta (Sports Psychologist) and Ali Shah (Physio).
Scotland will compete in Group B, alongside England, West Indies and hosts South Africa. The tournament has been rescheduled and moved to South Africa after the ICC imposed sanctions on Sri Lanka Cricket, who were originally selected as hosts.
The top three sides from each group progress to the Super Six phase of the event, with each team carrying forward the number of points, wins, and net run-rate that they earn against their fellow Super Six qualifying teams. The Super Six stage gets underway on 30 January, with the top two teams from each group in the Super Six stage progressing to the semi-finals.
Head Coach Dan Sutton said:
“We’ve had a really good few months of training following the Qualifier in the Netherlands, where we’ve focused in particular on the sports science side of things. The boys have been getting used to the heat chamber, as the climate in South Africa is obviously a bit different to that here in Scotland in January, and there’s been a big focus on strength and conditioning.
“We’re confident we will arrive at the World Cup in good form. Four of the squad have been in South Asia for the last three months, and playing competitive cricket which is hugely valuable to be in that environment training and playing every day, so we’re looking forward to seeing how they get on on the big stage.
“We had a really tough selection meeting, with quite a few difficult decisions to make. Obviously with the tournament moving from Sri Lanka to South Africa, quite a few things have changed in terms of the squad balance. We have definitely looked at that with a view to the makeup of the bowling selection in particular, with increased emphasis on the seamers as opposed to spinners as we expect the wickets in South Africa to be more seam-friendly, especially with the new ball. We also considered a batting nucleus that could face up to good quality seam bowling, which we expect we will face.
“It’s going to be a fantastic experience for everyone, we’re really excited. The squad flies out on January 3 and we’ll get a good week-long training camp in Pretoria, playing a few warmup games, before moving to Johannesburg for the start of the World Cup itself. It should be fun!”
Scotland Men’s U19 Squad:
| Owen Gould (captain) | RH Corstorphine CC |
| Uzair Ahmad | Ferguslie CC |
| Harry Armstrong | Stewarts Melville CC |
| Logan Briggs | Falkland CC |
| Jamie Dunk | Old Northamptonians CC |
| Bahadar Esakhiel | Ferguslie CC |
| Ibrahim Faisal | Clydesdale CC |
| Rory Grant | Grange CC |
| Adi Hegde | Meigle CC |
| Mackenzie Jones | Colchester CC |
| Farhan Khan | Watsonian CC |
| Qasim Khan | Ferguslie CC |
| Nikhil Koteeswaran | Clydesdale CC |
| Ruaridh McIntyre | Carlton CC |
| Alec Price | Moddershall and Oulton CC |
Scotland Men’s U19 World Cup Fixture Schedule:
| January 20 | Scotland | v England | Potchefstroom |
| January 24 | Scotland | v West Indies | Potchefstroom |
| January 27 | Scotland | v South Africa | Potchefstroom |
| January 30 | Super Six Stage begins |
