Kampala, Uganda – 26th March 2025 | The Uganda Baby Cricket Cranes travel to Nigeria seeking a fourth World Cup appearance. The 14-man squad departed for Nigeria on Tuesday 25 March.
Uganda has qualified for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup on three occasions—in 2004, 2006 and 2022.
Baby Cricket Cranes’ best performance came in 2022, when it defeated Scotland in the 13th-place play-off.
Uganda has won the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifier twice, in 2009 and 2021, and placed runner-up on another four occasions.
Six countries – host Nigeria, Namibia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Tanzania set to compete in the qualifiers in Nigeria from 28 March to 6 April.
The matches will be held at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) Cricket Oval and University of Lagos Cricket Oval in Lagos. Uganda will play their opening match against Tanzania on 29th March.
They will subsequently face Kenya on 30th March, Sierra Leone on 1st April, Namibia on 2nd April and Nigeria on 6th April.
The winner of the tournament will secure a ticket to the 2026 ICC U19 Cricket World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Head Coach Isaneez Emmanuel: “We have worked together with a group of young boys who are under 19 with a mission of qualifying for the World Cup. We started with a bigger group of talented young men from all the regions that play the game of course. We had to narrow the scope to a manageable number that we now have. 16 players from which 2 are reserves and 14 will travel to Lagos. We strongly believe as the Coaching team that the squad has bonded well and worked on holistic development in the game with all the mindful support from UCA and other stakeholders we can only thank them. We have faith the boys will perform to their potential and qualify to the cricket World Cup. I believe the boys have what it takes and they are determined to pull it off.”
Uganda U-19 Team:
- Gerald Olipa ©, 2. Devansh Patel, 3. Sohera Richard, 4. Kidega Christopher, 5. Nyiiro Jonathan, 6. Owili Robert, 7. Lubwama Conrad, 8. Abraiz Mir Ali, 9. Ochen Peter, 10. Musa Majid, 11. Gurjivan Singh, 12. Balidawa Ali, 13. Aziz Tandia, 14. Okecho Jordan.
Technical Team: 1. Isaneez Emmanuel (Head Coach), 2. Turinawe Robinson (Assistant Coach)
Uganda U19 Fixtures at the Africa Division 1 Qualifier:
March 29, 2025: Uganda U19 vs Tanzania U19
March 30, 2025: Uganda U19 vs Kenya U19
April 1, 2025: Uganda U19 vs Sierra Leone U19
April 2, 2025: Uganda U19 vs Namibia U19
April 6, 2025: Uganda U19 vs Nigeria U19
