In preparation for the upcoming Under-19 World Cup regional qualifiers in the United States in the summer, the Bermuda Cricket Board is planning a robust training programme.

Between August 7 and 17, Bermuda face Argentina, Canada, Surinam and the US in a battle for the Americas’ sole ticket to the World Cup, to be held in Zimbabwe and Namibia early next year.

With the island seeking its first appearance at the tournament since 2008, the BCB is putting together an intense five-month plan for Janeiro Tucker’s side.

“In the next two to three weeks, the under-19 players are going into a robust five-month training programme with the national team coaches,’’ said Cal Blankendal, the Bermuda Cricket Board executive director.

“We already have some players that are training with the senior national team. The majority are already training and doing some advance preparations, and then a few will join them in the next few weeks.

“But we have six players in cricket academies overseas. They also played in the last qualifiers in 2023, so they’re now coming back as more seasoned players.”

In the last qualifier played in Canada two years ago, Bermuda finished third in the four-team tournament. They picked up a win over Argentina before the second match against the South Americans was abandoned because of a wet outfield.

“We’re expecting good things from our team,” Blankendal said. “I’m not saying we should win the tournament, but they did quite well and batted 50 overs in some matches last time.

“Winning would be great but we need to set targets as Associate Members in terms of where we want to be. It’s not always about winning, but developing the next generation of players to go into the senior national programme.”

Meanwhile, the BCB is looking to leverage on its partnership with CedarBridge Academy to further develop youth cricket this year. It was from this collaboration that an under-15 school select team travelled to Fort Lauderdale where they played four 40-over matches last month.

“That trip was meant to offer an experience to those players that were looking to break into more advanced forms of cricket,” Blankendal added.

“It was a developmental trip so the players have received feedback from the coaches on what they need to work on. The players recognised that they need to join a local club to have more consistent training.

“Before they left, I told them not to worry about the results. It was a matter of them seeing how their peers play cricket and how they take it seriously, if it was about the results, they wouldn't have left Bermuda.

“Building on that, the youth leagues will start at the end of April. We are looking to have a more robust youth league this season, registration for that will come out next week.

“We encourage all clubs, parents and all stakeholders to come together to see if we can get groundbreaking swell of success for youth teams in each age group.

“We also have Pee Wee cricket going on at The Berkeley Institute on four Saturdays from March 1 to 22. We would like to thank Athene Life Re for allowing those youngsters to experience cricket, which is very important to grow the game.”