ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup set for lift off in Caribbean

The warmups are over and it is time for the main event to begin as the ICC Under 19 Mens Cricket World Cup gets underway on FridayHosts West Indies will hope to put their indifferent form in the warmups behind them as they kick things off in the Group D curtainraiser against Australia at Providence Stadium GuyanaFloyd Reifers side slipped to heavy defeats against India and South Africa in the buildup failing to cross the 200barrier with the bat on both occasionsHowever the coach is not concerned about his sides ability to score big saying I think the batting comes down to the mindset of the players in terms of spending some more time at the crease and building some more partnershipsI would say the warmup games that we have played were two lowscoring games so I wouldnt want to put too much emphasis on that Yes we know as a batting unit there are certain things we want to accomplish guys building on starts and these are things we are discussingIm confident in the lads we have a talented bunch of cricketers we have some good batters here its just a matter for us now to just do the one percenters right and then we will respond with some consistencyAustralia also have plenty of questions to answer after a ninewicket defeat to India in their only warmup encounter but with two progressing from Group D which also includes Scotland and Sri Lanka their captain Cooper Connolly is still bullish about his sides chancesThe India defeat was a reality check for us against one of the strongest sides maybe the favourite said Connolly who was part of the Australia side that lost in the quarterfinals in South Africa two years agoBut our team is checking out really well and I feel like were in good shape for the first game We cant start off really easy weve got to beat the West Indies and come out with a strong mindset Hopefully we can knock them overScotland were bowled out for 138 in a sevenwicket defeat to Ireland in their warmup game but beat Uganda in their opening hit out and will be looking to carry the momentum from their win against the Baby Cricket Cranes into the group stagesCaptain Charlie Peet said We are not here to make up the numbers we are just going to try and enjoy the experience and be the best versions of ourselves that we can beSri Lanka will be a threat for everyone after two very impressive warmup wins over Uganda and Ireland racking up 510 runs across both games They will look to continue that good form into their opener against the Scots in Guyana on FridayDefending champions Bangladesh are aiming to defend the crown they won in 2020 but have had mixed preparations after beating Zimbabwe but losing to Pakistan who look to be the early favourites in Group C in the buildupTheir opening Group A game is against England in St Kitts and Nevis on Sunday and skipper Rakibul Hasan who was part of the victorious 2020 squad insists they are starting to adjust to the Caribbean conditionsHe said The conditions in St Kitts are not that tough we have been here for two weeks now so we have adjusted to the conditions and also playing two practice games is good preparation for us so we are looking forward to playing England and hopefully we can get off to a good startEngland have shown some good form the warmups racking up 359 for seven in the 281run victory over Papua New GuineaGeorge Thomas and captain Tom Prest were both dismissed in the 90s but will be hoping to push on and reach batting milestones in the tournament proper where they will also face the UAE and CanadaPrest said Weve come over here with the intention of winning the tournament Thats kind of our ultimate goal as a side Bangladesh is our first game that should be a great test for us Obviously they won the last World Cup but were very hopeful we can get out of the group stage and then into the knockout tournamentGroup B explodes into life when India and South Africa face off on Saturday with both having seen off the tournament hosts in their preparationsThe two bighitters will also face Uganda and Ireland who also play each other on Saturday The Irish could be a surprise package and are led by Tim Tector the third consecutive Tector brother after Jack and Harry to captain his country at this tournamentHe said We have Uganda first up and our focus is on that first we are pretty confident for that game but youve got to take it one game at a time India will be a different challenge in itself none of us have ever played a game on TV before so that part about it will be a bit differentTheres always going to be a few nerves about playing those big games but I think when the time comes and when we step over the rope we will be ready to go Hopefully we beat Uganda in the first game and then if we win one of the other two games we will be in the Super League and that will be a massive achievement for Cricket Ireland but if not we will go to Trinidad and try and get as far as we can in the plate the captain addedThis story has been sourced from a third party 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