England are heading for the spectacular New Zealand city of Queenstown for their group matches in the ICC Under-19s World Cup early next year.
The ICC announced the schedule for the tournament today, with England drawn to play Namibia, Bangladesh and Canada at the John Davies Oval.
West Indies, who won the last Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2016, will face the hosts New Zealand in the opening match on January 13 at the Bay Oval in Tauranga on the North Island, which will also stage the final on February 3.
The top two teams from each of the four groups will qualify for quarter finals, which will be split between Queenstown and the Hagley Oval in Christchurch from January 25-28, with both semi finals in Christchurch on January 27 and 28 – meaning England will not have to leave the South Island unless they reach the final.
They will play two warm-up matches, against Ireland in Christchurch on January 9, and Sri Lanka in Lincoln on January 11.
England will go into the tournament as outsiders after suffering a 5-0 whitewash by a formidable India team in the Royal London One-Day Series which ended in Taunton yesterday.
They will step up preparations for the World Cup in a Tri-Series against South Africa and Namibia based in Potchefstroom from November 30 to December 10 – with the squad for that trip set to be confirmed next month.
England have been Under-19s world champions only once in the 11 tournaments that have been held since 1988, when a squad including Graeme Swann, Rob Key and captained by Owais Shah beat New Zealand in the final in South Africa in 1998.
They qualified for the semi finals in Dubai in 2014, but were beaten by Sri Lanka in the quarter finals two years ago. Of that squad, Mason Crane has already played senior international cricket, while Sam Curran, George Garton, Dan Lawrence and Saqib Mahmood have represented England Lions.
Tom Lammonby, the Somerset all-rounder who was yesterday named England’s Man of the Series against India, said: “The prospect of playing in a World Cup in New Zealand is an exciting one for all of us – but there’s a lot of hard work to do before we know who’s been selected.”
Brendan Bourke, who will be the Tournament Director, said: “This will be the most accessible international event ever staged throughout New Zealand, with free entry to all games, so we look forward to opening the gates to our match venues in a little under five months’ time.”
England Group C fixtures (all at John Davies Oval, Queenstown): v Namibia (January 15); v Bangladesh (January 18); v Canada (January 20).
Other groups
Group A: New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa, Kenya.
Group B: India, Australia, Zimbabwe, Papua New Guinea.
Group D: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Ireland.