New Zealand U19s ready for championship chase

New Zealand’s Under-19 cricket team starts its campaign at the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup tomorrow (Saturday 16 January) with a match against Canada in Christchurch – and captain Craig Cachopa said the team is ready for the challenge.

The New Zealand side is drawn in Group C of the global competition which also includes defending champion India and Afghanistan, who met on the opening day of the tournament.

The home side comes in to the event with a varied record in recent warm-ups, losing a series to Pakistan 2-1 and going down to Bangladesh, but buoyed by a strong performance to beat England in its final practice game.

Cachopa said the side is feeling positive ahead of its opening clash. “One day out we’re feeling pretty good,” said Cachopa.

“We had a good win against England in our last game, and the boys have taken a lot of confidence out of it. We’re really firing for the first game against Canada.”

“We’re not going to underestimate Canada. We’re going to play our strongest side and we’re going to go hard and want to beat them well.”

As hosts of the tournament New Zealand could also be feeling some pressure to perform, having the best knowledge of local conditions. But Cachopa said the expectations aren’t an issue for his players.

“Pressure is all part of the parcel of the game when you want to be a professional sportsman – and this is a stepping stone to becoming that so we’re quite happy to take a bit of pressure.

“To be a good player you’ve got to take pressure and perform well under pressure. That’s what we want to do.”

Cachopa said a key strength for the New Zealand side was its all-round talent. “We’re got a lot of good all-rounders so they offer us a lot with the bat and ball, and we bat really deep as well.”

One all-rounder will be playing in a limited role, however, with Canterbury first-class player Corey Anderson playing as a batsman only due to injury. With the depth in the squad, that’s not a concern for Cachopa. “Corey can’t bowl but to have a batter as good as him in the side, he’s still going to offer us so much.”

Looking at the form guide in the U19 CWC Cachopa says the sub-content sides are always going to be tough to beat, even in unfamiliar conditions.

“They play cricket a lot differently to the way we do, so that’s a big learning curve for us,” he said. “Obviously we went down to Bangladesh in our first warm-up game – it was a learning experience. They always say, if you lose, don’t lose the lesson.”

New Zealand plays Canada at Lincon No. 3 Ground at Lincoln University tomorrow, then faces Zimabwe at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln, on Tuesday. Its final Group match is against Sri Lanka at QEII Park on Wednesday 20 January. All games start at 10.30am and entry is free.