England’s Under-19 cricketers face a tough workout in Wellington tomorrow when they face one of international cricket’s most explosive batsmen – New Zealand BLACKCAP and Bangalore Royal Challengers opener Jesse Ryder.
Ryder will be playing for a Wellington A selection against the English side which is preparing for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup later this month. He will only play as a batsman, with a runner, as part of his rehabilitation from an abdominal injury.
The young England side will also be tested by another BLACKCAP, opening bowler Mark Gillespie, who is also in the Wellington A side for match practice as he recovers from a back injury.
England is one of seven Under-19 teams which have now arrived in New Zealand and in preparation ahead of the U19 CWC.
Afghanistan arrived in New Zealand on New Year’s Day and is training in Christchurch. Their first warm-up match was against a Canterbury XI that included several first-class players – Afghanistan chasing down 262 to win in the final over. In a return match today the touring side didn’t fare so well, losing by 192 runs.
Their captain for today’s match, Noor-ul-Haq Malekzai, says today’s fixture was about giving some of his younger players match practice, and adjusting to local conditions.
“The conditions are good – the weather is very good, the facilities are fine – we are very happy playing here,” he said.
“There is a big difference in the pitches – here the pitch is very fast, in Afghanistan it is very slow.”
Noor-ul-Haq said the side was looking forward to matching themselves against hot favourites India in their tournament opener and believes his team will put up a great fight against the number one seeds.
“India is a great team, a champion, but our team is not weak. In Canada we beat many of those countries that have been playing cricket for 50 years. So we believe in our team.”
Hong Kong is also in camp in Christchurch, and played a Canterbury Under-17 selection yesterday, securing a 41-run win. Alex Smith top scored with 74 while Irfan Ahmed contributed 60. They play a Canterbury XI tomorrow (Thursday).
On Friday Hong Kong will face the United States U19s – the third team currently training in Christchurch. The USA side had a first-up win over the Canterbury XI earlier this week, and face the provincial Under-17 side tomorrow before taking on Hong Kong.
Pakistan is playing three matches against the New Zealand U19s – the teams have one win apiece with the decider tomorrow, at Blenheim.
Also in New Zealand are Canada, who have been warming up against a local selection in Auckland, and the West Indies who play two matches this week against Northern Districts A at Mount Maunganui.
