ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifier
| Administrator | International Cricket Council |
|---|---|
| Format | 50-over |
| First edition | 2001 |
| Latest edition | 2023 |
| Tournament format | Round-robin |
| Current champion | File:Flag of Namibia.svg Namibia |
| Most successful | File:Flag of Namibia.svg Namibia (7 titles) |
ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifier (formerly ICC Africa Under-19 Championships) are a series of regular cricket tournaments organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for under-19 teams from its African member nations. It is the regional qualifier for the ICC Under-19 World Cup. The initial tournament was staged in 2001 but did not return until 2007. During the interim years a joint competition with the East Asia-Pacific Cricket Council was held.[1] A second division was added in 2009 providing affiliate nations with a chance to participate. After this first edition, two teams were promoted, but since then only one team has moved between divisions. The two divisions are played at different times and in different locations. The current champions are Namibia, who won the 2023 tournament in Tanzania to qualify for the 2024 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka Namibia have won seven titles, the most of any team, while Uganda have won twice and Kenya and Nigeria once each.
Under-19 World Cup Qualification History
One of the key aspects of the African Under-19 Championships is its role in Under-19 World Cup Qualification. Before the introduction of the championship only Kenya and Namibia took part in the World Cup.[2][3] However, aided by the development of international cricket during the late 90s and 2000s the possibility of holding the first African regional qualifier arose in 2001. Of the five associate nations at that time,[4] Kenya already had automatic qualification for the 2002 U-19 World Cup due to their ODI status.[5] As a result, the highest finisher in the inaugural competition besides Kenya would also qualify. Namibia finished in first place and so earned themselves the final World Cup space.[6] For the following two U-19 World Cups, the African Cricket Association and the East Asia-Pacific Cricket Council organised joint qualification competitions from which two teams would progress.[1] In the 2003 competition, Uganda qualified alongside EAP side Papua New Guinea for the 2004 U-19 World Cup but in 2005 two African nations, Namibia and Uganda made it through to the 2006 finals.[7][8] In 2007, the two councils once again organised separate competitions, meaning only one team would qualify from the African Championships.[9] Namibia beat Kenya in the final to go through as the representative of African associate nations.[10] The entire qualification system for the U-19 World Cup was revamped in 2009. Whilst regionally, a second division of African affiliate nations was organised, including the chance of promotion,[11] a new international qualification tournament was introduced by the ICC. This competition saw ten teams, two from each of the five cricketing regions, fighting for the six remaining places in the World Cup finals.[12] The winners and runners-up of the 2009 Africa U-19 Championships, Uganda and Sierra Leone, made it through to the U-19 World Qualifiers, but neither finished high enough to progress to final. The Sierra Leone team hit the headlines when they were denied visas and so had no chance to compete.[13] The same system continued for the 2012 U-19 World Cup qualification, though the regional divisions were played a year earlier than usual, in 2010. Namibia and Kenya finished first and second in Division One earning them places in the U-19 World Cup Qualifier, held the next year.[14]
Tournament results
Division One
Division Two
Participating teams (Division One)
- Legend
- 1st – Champions
- 2nd – Runners-up
- 3rd – Third place
- Q – Qualified
- * – Combined tournament with EAP members (not included in this table)
- – Hosts
Records
This section includes performances by African teams and players at the 2003 and 2005 combined Africa/EAP tournaments.
- Highest team scores
- 399/5 (50 overs) – File:Flag of Zambia.svg Zambia vs File:Flag of Nigeria.svg Nigeria, 29 August 2007, at Willowmoore Park, Benoni.[15]
- 356/9 (50 overs) – File:Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya vs File:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji, 4 October 2003, at Police Sports Club, Windhoek.[16]
- 355/8 (50 overs) – File:Flag of Uganda.svg Uganda vs West Africa, 5 January 2001, at Lugogo Stadium, Kampala.[17]
- 334/7 (50 overs) – File:Flag of Namibia.svg Namibia vs File:Flag of Zambia.svg Zambia, 27 May 2013, at Kyambogo Cricket Oval, Kampala.[18]
- 321/6 (50 overs) – File:Flag of Namibia.svg Namibia vs File:Flag of Botswana.svg Botswana, 16 February 2015, at Annadil Burhani Ground, Dar es Salaam.[19]
- Lowest team scores
- 21 all out (18.4 overs) – File:Flag of Nigeria.svg Nigeria vs File:Flag of Uganda.svg Uganda, 26 August 2007, at Willowmoore Park, Benoni.[20]
- 35/8 (20 overs) – File:Flag of Sierra Leone.svg Sierra Leone vs File:Flag of Uganda.svg Uganda, 4 May 2009, Centrals Sports Club, Lusaka.
- 36 all out (15 overs) – File:Flag of Tanzania.svg Tanzania vs File:Flag of Zambia.svg Zambia, 5 September 2010, at Centre for Cricket Development, Windhoek.[21]
- 41 all out (12.2 overs) – File:Flag of Nigeria.svg Nigeria vs File:Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya, 28 May 2013, at Lugogo Stadium, Kampala.[22]
- 42 all out (18.1 overs) – File:Flag of Nigeria.svg Nigeria vs File:Flag of Botswana.svg Botswana, 25 August 2007, at Willowmoore Park, Benoni.[23]
- Highest individual scores
- 161 (143 balls) – File:Flag of Namibia.svg Xander Pitchers, vs File:Flag of Zambia.svg Zambia, 27 May 2013, at Kyambogo Cricket Oval, Kampala.[18]
- 155* (129 balls) – File:Flag of Namibia.svg Zane Green, vs File:Flag of Botswana.svg Botswana, 16 February 2015, at Annadil Burhani Ground, Dar es Salaam.[19]
- 152 (130 balls) – File:Flag of Namibia.svg Gert Lotter, vs File:Flag of Sierra Leone.svg Sierra Leone, 31 August 2010, at Afrikaans Primary School, Windhoek.[24]
- 135 (? balls) – File:Flag of Uganda.svg Laurence Sematimba, vs West Africa, 5 January 2001, at Lugogo Stadium, Kampala.[17]
- 127 (? balls) – File:Flag of Kenya.svg Hafeez Manji, vs File:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji, 4 October 2003, at Police Sports Club, Windhoek.[16]
- Best bowling figures
- 7/11 (8 overs) – File:Flag of Uganda.svg David Wabwire, vs File:Flag of Botswana.svg Botswana, 14 February 2015, at Annadil Burhani Ground, Dar es Salaam.[25]
- 7/12 (6.1 overs) – File:Flag of Tanzania.svg Athumani Kakonzi, vs File:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji, 23 August 2005, at Willowmoore Park, Benoni.[26]
- 7/14 (10 overs) – File:Flag of Uganda.svg Collins Okwalinga, vs File:Flag of Tanzania.svg Tanzania, 19 February 2015, at Gymkhana Club Ground, Dar es Salaam.[27]
- 6/3 (9.4 overs) – File:Flag of Uganda.svg Charles Waiswa, vs File:Flag of Nigeria.svg Nigeria, 26 August 2007, at Willowmoore Park, Benoni.[28]
- 6/7 (8 overs) – File:Flag of Uganda.svg Geoffrey Nyero vs File:Flag of Sierra Leone.svg Sierra Leone, 4 May 2009, Centrals Sports Club, Lusaka.
See also
Notes
- ↑ Namibia had already qualified for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup and hence didn't need to play in the qualifiers.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Other Matches played by Namibia Under-19s Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine cricketarchive.com 17 November 2010
- ↑ ICC Youth World Cup 2000 Archived 8 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine cricketeurope4.net 17 November 2010
- ↑ Under-19 World Cup 2002 cricketeurope4.net 17 November 2010
- ↑ The East and Central Africa cricket team and West Africa cricket team had not yet split into their separate states at this point
- ↑ Africa: Under 19 titles start today espncricinfo.com 17 November 2010
- ↑ Africa Under-19 Championship 2000/2001 Points Table cricketarchive.com 17 November 2010
- ↑ ICC Under 19 World Cup 2004 cricketeurope4.net 17 November 2010
- ↑ ICC Under 19 World Cup 2006 cricketeurope4.net 17 November 2010
- ↑ Namibia announce Under-19 squad espncricinfo.com 17 November 2010
- ↑ Africa Under 19 Championships 2007 cricketeurope4.net 17 November 2010
- ↑ News Flash Africa February 2009 Archived 29 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine icc-cricket.yahoo.net 17 November 2010
- ↑ Under 19 World Cup Qualifier details cricketeurope4.net 17 November 2010
- ↑ Visa issues end Sierra Leone's World Cup dream espncricinfo.com 17 November 2010
- ↑ Lotter, Vijayakumar bag top honours Archived 24 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine icc-cricket.yahoo.net 17 November 2010
- ↑ Nigeria Under-19s v Zambia Under-19s, Africa Under-19 Championship 2007 (5th Place Play-off Semi-Final) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Fiji Under-19s v Kenya Under-19s, Africa/East Asia-Pacific Under-19 Championship 2003/04 (Group B) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Uganda Under-19s v West Africa Under-19s, Africa Under-19 Championship 2000/01 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Namibia Under-19s v Zambia Under-19s, ICC Africa Under-19 Division One Championship 2013 (Pool A) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Botswana Under-19s v Namibia Under-19s, ICC Africa Under-19 Championship 2014/15 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- ↑ Nigeria Under-19s vs Uganda Under-19s, Africa Under-19 Championship 2007 (Pool 2) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ↑ Tanzania Under-19s v Zambia Under-19s, Africa Under-19 Championship 2010 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ↑ Kenya Under-19s v Nigeria Under-19s, ICC Africa Under-19 Division One Championship 2013 (Pool B) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ↑ Botswana Under-19s v Nigeria Under-19s, Africa Under-19 Championship 2007 (Pool 2) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ↑ Namibia Under-19s v Sierra Leone Under-19s, Africa Under-19 Championship 2010 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ↑ Botswana Under-19s v Uganda Under-19, ICC Africa Under-19 Championship 2014/15 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- ↑ Fiji Under-19s v Tanzania Under-19s, Africa/East Asia-Pacific Under-19 Championship 2005 (Pool 2) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ↑ Botswana Under-19s v Uganda Under-19, ICC Africa Under-19 Championship 2014/15 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- ↑ Tanzania Under-19s v Uganda Under-19s, Africa Under-19 Championship 2007 (Pool 2) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 12 February 2015.