Utseya targets World Cup second round

HIS team might have been handed a tough draw but Zimbabwe coach Prosper Utseya is confident they can pull through from the initial group stage of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, which is scheduled for Sri Lanka in January.

Zimbabwe are in Group C, together with two of the game’s traditional giants — Australia and Sri Lanka.

Namibia completes the group. Utseya, a former senior national team captain, feels it is a tough group but insists he is not losing sleep, as he believes his charges have what it takes to compete with their fancied opponents and advance beyond the group stage.

“We are in quite a tough group that has Australia and hosts Sri Lanka, with Namibia joining us.

“There will be no easy games. “Being in the same group as the hosts and Australia is extremely exciting and, needless to say, unbelievably challenging, but I believe we won’t be pushovers as we are eyeing to progress to the next round,” said Utseya.

Zimbabwe were knocked out of the same tournament two years ago.

Utseya, however, reckons times have changed.

“We are better prepared than we were last time and that alone gives us confidence going into the tournament,” he said.

“In the last edition, our preparations were disrupted by Covid-19 and now, we have had smooth preparations, thanks to the

for doing everything for us, and the only ZC way to pay back is to do better at the World Cup than we did last time.”

The Young Chevrons held a month-long camp in India early this year as part of their preparations, which included adjusting to sub-continent conditions.

“The bulk of our players are still going to school, hence, we had to utilise the school holidays, and I am happy with the progress that we have made in our preparations,” added Utseya.

Some of the players had been exposed to local club cricket in the National Premier League, a development that stands them in good stead for the World Cup.

The Young Chevrons have 17 more matches lined up as part of their warm-up ahead of the global showpiece.

“We are sticking with our original plan . . . “Since most of the players are going to school, we gave the players a programme to follow and we will resume our final preparations for the World Cup soon after the examinations.

“The final part of the preparations will see us also playing a total of 17 practice matches.”

The team will play three games with the Zimbabwe Emerging side, while as many matches are being arranged against the South Africa Under-19 team.

They will also play six matches against India state sides and a similar number of games against Ireland.

The Young Chevrons will then round off preparations with two warm-up matches against Ireland and the United States.