Daily Times

LAHORE: Twelve sides of six Cricket Associations will participate in the three-day National Under-19 Championship and one-day National U19 Cup, which will be held across six venues of Punjab from October 10 to November 19. The three-day games will be followed by one-day fixtures, with a day’s gap between the two matches. Six Whites squads have been placed in Pool A and will play their matches in Gujranwala, Muridke and Sialkot, while the remaining six Blues squads are in Pool B with their matches scheduled at Rawalpindi and Islamabad’s Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Academy, National Ground and Shalimar Cricket Ground. The Pakistan Cricket Board, this season, has allowed each Cricket Association to field two sides. This has been done to allow talented youngsters the opportunity to stake claims in Pakistan squad for next year’s ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2022, besides increasing the pool of players at the grassroots level with the very best talent to be identified, nurtured and trained at the National High Performance Centre.

Meanwhile, following merit-based trials, the 12 squads for the two tournaments have been confirmed. Performance of players in the City Cricket Association two-day and 50-over tournaments were also taken into consideration. The squads also include 32 players who attended an eight-week High Performance Camp at Karachi’s Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre under the supervision of head coach Ijaz Ahmed. The camp not only provided extensive practice, training and scenario-based match practice to the probables, it also furnished valuable exposure in a High Performance camp environment.

National U19 Championship and Cup schedule:

Pool A

October 10-12 and 14: Balochistan (W)-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (W), Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot; Central Punjab (W)-Sindh (W), Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala; Northern (W)-Southern Punjab (W), Country Club, Muridke.

October 17-19 and 21: Balochistan (W)-Northern (W), Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot; Sindh (W)-Southern Punjab (W), Country Club, Muridke; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (W)-Central Punjab (W), Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala.

October 24-26 and 28: Balochistan (W)-Central Punjab (W), Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot; Northern (W)-Sindh (W), Country Club, Muridke; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (W)-Southern Punjab (W), Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala.

October 31and November 2 and 4: Balochistan (W)-Southern Punjab (W), Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (W)-Sindh (W), Country Club, Muridke; Northern (W)-Central Punjab (W), Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot.

November 7-9 and 11: Balochistan (W)-Sindh (W), Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot; Central Punjab (W)-Southern Punjab (W), Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala; Northern (W)-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (W), Country Club, Muridke.

POOL B

October 10-12 and 14: Balochistan (B)-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (B), Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi; Central Punjab (B)-Sindh (B), National Ground, Islamabad; Northern (B)-Southern Punjab (B), Shalimar Cricket Ground; Islamabad.

October 17-19 and 21: Balochistan (B)-Northern (B), Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi; Sindh (B)-Southern Punjab (B), National Ground, Islamabad; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (B)-Central Punjab (B), Shalimar Cricket Ground, Islamabad.

October 24-26 and 28 Oct: Balochistan (B)-Central Punjab (B), Shalimar Cricket Ground, Islamabad; Northern (B)-Sindh (B), National Ground, Islamabad; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (B)-Southern Punjab (B), Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi.

October 31 November 2 and 4: Balochistan (B)-Southern Punjab (B), National Ground, Islamabad; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (B)-Sindh (B), Shalimar Cricket Ground, Islamabad; Northern (B)-Central Punjab (B), Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi

November 7-9 and 11: Balochistan (B)-Sindh (B), National Ground, Islamabad; Central Punjab (B)-Southern Punjab (B), Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi; Northern (B)-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (B), Shalimar Cricket Ground, Islamabad

November 14: National U19 Cup final (Pool A leader v Pool B leader), venue TBC.

November 16-19: National U19 Championship final (Pool A leader v Pool B leader), venue TBC.