Online Reporter
Brandon Moyo, Zimpapers Sports Hub
FORMER Chevrons international captain Hamilton Masakadza has laid down a clear marker for Zimbabwe Under 19s, targeting a place in the Super Six at the 2026 ICC Men’s Under 19 Cricket World Cup, where he will serve as tournament director.
Zimbabwe will co-host the global showpiece with Namibia, with the tournament running from January 15 to February 6.
Sixteen teams, divided into four groups of four, will contest the opening round. From there, the competition moves into the Super Six phase, where the top three teams from each group are split into two pools of six.
The tournament then shifts into the knockout stage, featuring two semi-finals and the final, with reserve days set aside for all three matches. The Young Chevrons were drawn in Group C alongside England, Pakistan and Scotland, and will play all their group matches at Takashinga Cricket Club.
Zimbabwe begin their campaign against Scotland on January 15, face England on January 18 and close their group programme against Pakistan on January 22.
Masakadza said player development, alongside progression to the Super Six, should be the central focus for the hosts.
“For me, the first thing is the development of players. If we can get these boys making the step up, directly from Under 19 level to at least be permanent players in provincial sides, which would be a plus for me. It’s part of the pathway and where you want players to be coming through from. So I would say if we can get guys going straight into the senior provincial sides from here, that would be a big plus.
“Performance-wise, hosting the tournament, we want to progress to the Super Six stage and hopefully grab some wins from there as well. First challenge is to progress to the Super Six stage and take it from there,” said Masakadza.
A total of 41 matches will be played during the tournament. In a move aimed at ensuring equal conditions, all matches will be played during the day, with none scheduled under floodlights.
Masakadza explained the decision to avoid night matches.
“Because we are using more than one venue, and we only have one venue with flood lights, and sharing parts of the tournament with Namibia where they don’t have lights up yet, what they tried to do is to ensure that there are the same conditions for everyone, so that’s why we could not consider lights this time around because once you have them, you need to have them at all the other venues as well just to make sure its similar conditions. So, for this one, we won’t be using the lights but ZC is working on getting lights up at the rest of the stadiums,” he said.
Masakadza, Zimbabwe’s fourth-highest run scorer of all time, described the Under 19 World Cup as a defining stage in a young cricketer’s journey, with strong performances often opening the door to the senior national team.
“Every cricketer goes through that path when they come through the junior age groups, all the way to senior level. Under 19 is a very pivotal moment in one’s career, it’s the last age group tournament before you step up to playing with the big boys. Some of these guys would have already started playing with some senior players in their domestic set-ups but a lot of the boys are still school-going and it’s a very important part of their development and their career.
“It’s also a moment that you also meet up with people that you will be playing against at international level.
“What I like the most is that whoever then puts their hand up at this level, they go straight to national level, and we have seen it happen a lot with the likes of KG Rabada,” said Masakadza.
All matches at the tournament will be free to attend.
The competition will be staged across five venues, Harare Sports Club, Takashinga Sports Club and Queens Sports Club in Zimbabwe, with Namibia Cricket Ground and HP Oval hosting matches in Namibia.— @brandon_malvin
