ICC U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka, Feb 2006

History

The first Under-19 World Cup was held in Australia in 1987-1988 and was called the Youth World Cup. The then seven Test playing countries and an ICC Associates XI took part. Australia won the inaugural cup by beating Pakistan in the final. Martin Williamson, managing editor of Cricinfo, has a nice summary of the history of the Under-19 World Cup.

Bangladesh has been participating in subsequent cups and here is a brief gander down memory lane.

1997-98

After a long 10 year hiatus, the tournament was resumed as a biennial event. South Africa hosted this event and teams from the then 9 Test-playing nations were joined by the qualifiers Bangladesh, Kenya and Scotland. Bangladesh were placed in the Sobers pool along with England, New Zealand and Namibia. Bangladesh pulled off a big upset by beating England, the eventual winner, but had to content for the plate final. Bangladesh, England and New Zealand all had 2 wins but the latter two moved up due to a better run rate. Bangladesh eventually won the plate final by beating the West Indies by 6 wickets.

Tournament index

1999-2000

Held in Sri Lanka, this tournament had the same structure as the previous one - four groups of four, a Super League  for the top 8 and a plate for the rest. Bangladesh was placed in Group B along with New Zealand, India and Holland. Bangladesh lost to the first two (who went on to the super league) and had to contend with the plate championship. While they did make it to the plate finals, they lost to South Africa by 80 runs. India were the eventual champions.

Tournament index

2001-2002

The third edition of the cup held in New Zealand conjures up mixed memories. They were grouped with India, South Africa and Canada. While they beat India in a low scoring match, they were mauled by South Africa and were held to a tie by Canada. Once again Bangladesh were contending for the plate championship. They were placed in the same group as Zimbabwe and crashed out when they were upset by Nepal in the semis. Australia went on to win the championship and stamp their class.

Tournament index

2003-2004

Bangladesh hosted the most well attended edition of the cup but again missed out going to the Super League. In the preliminary rounds, they were placed in Group C along with New Zealand, Scotland and India. They beat Scotland, narrowly lost to New Zealand and was trounced by India. Once again Bangladesh found itself in the plate championship and once again Bangladesh lifted the Plate beating previous champions Australia by 8 runs.

Tournament index