The New Zealand Under-19 team attended the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012 opening ceremony in Brisbane last night.
Representatives from all 16 competing sides were welcomed ahead of the tournament, which will run from August 11 to 26 in Queensland.
A number of former international cricketers attended the event and collectively had one message for the players – enjoy yourselves.
Amongst the big names were the likes of Courtney Walsh, David Boon, Geoff Lawson, Chris Harris and Greg Chappell. Australian Cricket Director Michael Kasprowicz also welcomed all the teams.
The former fast bowler highlighted the opportunity at hand, reminding the players that the tournament could well be a great stepping stone towards reaching their senior national side.
“This tournament will provide the best young cricketers in the world with an ideal opportunity to enjoy international exposure, showcase their skills and lay a claim for higher honours in their future,’’ Kasprowicz said.
“If past ICC U19 Cricket World Cups are any guide, there are a number of young men that we will see in the next few weeks who will be well in contention to be back in Australia and New Zealand in 2015 where the biggest event on the international cricketing calendar, the World Cup, will be staged.”
The ceremony continued to give the 15 strong New Zealand side something to be excited about, having already shown signs of encouragement with two practise match victories over Scotland and West Indies.
They will face South Africa and Nepal in their final warm-up games, before facing Scotland on August 12 in their first official match.