Kenya returns to global cricket showpiece in New Zealand U-19 tourney

NAIROBI, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Kenya makes a return to the International Cricket Council (ICC) Under-19 Cricket World Cup to be staged in Christchurch city in New Zealand from January 6 to February 4, 2018.

Head coach Jimmy Kamande is optimistic his team will do well in the tournament, which is one of the elementary competitions the ICC has introduced to middle level countries to improve their cricket experience internationally.

"We have several warm up matches lined up to give the players a feeling of the big tournament and also to test our preparedness," Kamande said on Monday evening in Nairobi.

Kenya has named a 15-man team for the assignment. There will be 16 teams participating in next year's championship where Kenya is making its return to the showpiece after a long absence.

Kenya is placed in a tough group A which also has defending champion West Indies, host New Zealand and 2014 champion South Africa.

Kenya will play two warm up matches against Canada and India on Jan. 9 and 11 respectively.

The East African side will open their campaign against South Africa on Jan. 14, before taking on New Zealand on Jan. 17, which will be followed by a final group fixture against West Indies on Jan. 20.

The top two teams from the group stage will progress to the quarterfinals while the bottom two sides will enter the plate event.

Kamande will be assisted by Josphat Irungu, while Sunil Sarkar will take the team manager's role. Enditem