USA U-19 National Cricket from April 4 in Texas

LOS ALTOS: USA Cricket on Monday confirmed the schedule, groups, format, and match officials for the first ever USA Cricket under-19 National Championships to be played at the Prairie View Cricket Complex in Houston, Texas, from April 4-11.

The eight teams will be divided into two groups of four where they will play three group matches each. The groups have been drawn at random, but the draw was weighted to ensure to (i) place the West Zone Reds and West Zone Blues into two different groups, and (ii) that all conference sides were separated where possible.

Group A comprise Colts, Mid-Atlantic Zone, South Zone, and West Zone Reds while Group B consist of East Zone, Midwest Zone, South West Zone, West Zone Blues

Each team will play three group matches, with the top team in each group progressing to the Under 19 National Championship Final on Saturday, April 10, which will decide the first ever U19 National Champions. The teams finishing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in each group will play each other in cross-over classification matches for the 3rd, 5th and 7th place positions respectively.

In keeping with the preparation for the Under 19 World Cup Qualifier, all matches will be played in the 50 Overs format with collared clothing and white ball.

A panel of eight umpires will officiate all matches across the week, including international umpires that are USA Cricket's representatives on the International Panel of ICC Development Umpires. They are: Sameer Bandekar, Owen Brown, RavishankarByrappagowda, MatinInamdar, Danny Khan, SadiqKhoja, Jermaine Lindo, and VijayaMallela

The 16 matches will all be played on turf wickets at the Prairie View Cricket Complex in Houston, Texas, with the matches taking place between April 5 and 10, with a training/practice day scheduled for the 4th and departure day on the 11th. IANS

Also Read: UAE players Mohammad Naveed, Shaiman Anwar banned by ICC

Also Watch: Massive Support for JP Nadda's campaign at Sootea LAC