New Zealand Cricket Team: New Zealand became the latest nation to qualify for the ICC U19 Mens Cricket World Cup 2024 in Sri Lanka, as a series of strong displays saw them emerge victorious from the East Asia-Pacific Qualifier that concluded here on Wednesday.
Unbeaten throughout the event, and recording big victories in the process, the talented crop led by skipper Oscar Jackson were confirmed as the 13th team heading to next year's main event, by virtue of finishing the tournament at the top of the standings following a convincing win in their final fixture against Indonesia on Monday.
New Zealand now join Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe as the confirmed teams for ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2024.
"Obviously, all of the boys are stoked about our qualification. We have been extremely lucky to have enjoyed such awesome preparation over the last few months in the lead up to this tournament. As a team, we are delighted to come to Darwin and play a style of cricket that we are all really proud of. I'm so proud of the way in which the boys have come together, to form such a positive and inclusive environment," said skipper Jackson to ICC.
New Zealand had several highlights, with Zac Cumming, Alex Thomson and the tournament's top run-scorer Tom Jones (283 runs) being notable architects in clinching qualification for U19 Men's Cricket World Cup.
"Our squad knows that there's still plenty of hard work to come over the next few months in the lead up to Sri Lanka, but we are pleased with the direction we are heading in as a team," added Jackson.
New Zealand's qualification means just three spots remain open for the ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup 2024, and the final competing nations will be decided through the remaining Regional Qualifiers in Africa, Europe and Americas.
The Africa Regional Qualifier, will be held in Tanzania from July 23-29 and the teams aiming to seal their place in the main tournament will be Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda.
It will be followed by the Europe Regional Qualifier, to be held from August 6-12 in the Netherlands and competing teams being Guernsey, Italy, Jersey, Netherlands, Norway and Scotland.
The last leg of qualification will be the Americas Regional Qualifier, with Canada being its hosts' from August 11-17, and competing teams being Argentina, Bermuda, Canada, Suriname and USA.
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The ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup 2024 will be the fifteenth edition of the tournament and will be held in Sri Lanka for the first time since 2006. 16 teams will be competing at the tournament over 41 matches.