U19 World Cup 2022: ICC CEO Geoff Allardice Supports New Zealand's Decision To Withdraw From Tournament

ICC CEO Geoff Allardice has supported New Zealand Cricket’s decision to withdraw from U19 World Cup 2022. Earlier, New Zealand withdrew from the tournament due to the strict quarantine protocols within their country for minors upon their return. Scotland was selected as the replacement team for New Zealand.

ICC U19 World Cup 2022 commences on January 14. The venue of the tournament is West Indies. A total of 16 teams are part of the U19 World Cup 2022. Other than West Indies, other teams part of the tournament are Bangladesh, Canada, England, UAE, India, Ireland, South Africa, Uganda Afghanistan, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Zimbabwe, Australia, Scotland, and Sri Lanka.

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We Can Understand Why New Zealand Withdrew From U19 World Cup 2022: ICC CEO

While speaking ahead of the tournament, ICC CEO Geoff Allardice backed New Zealand’s decision of withdrawing from the tournament, saying that we are not talking about professional athletes but young kids.

“We need to understand the isolation on return for New Zealand. We are not talking about professional athletes. We are talking about young kids going to the other side of the world for a month and then spending 14 days in quarantine on return. We can understand why the board took the decision”, Geoff Allardice said.

Geoff Allardice also opened up about the quarantine protocols and measures ICC has taken for the success of U19 World Cup 2022.

“The teams travel only after the group stage. We have got four islands involved because we needed the flexibility and contingencies if changes were made to the schedule. It’s not a strict bubble. We ensured there’s some freedom given they will be there for a month to enjoy the experience of being part of such a tournament. There’s mental health service within the organization in West Indies”, Allardice further said.

The 16 teams are divided into 4 groups of 4 teams each. A total of 48 ODI matches will take place during ICC U19 World Cup 2022. During the group stage, each team will face the other team of their group once. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.

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Then, the winners of the quarter-finals will face each other in the semi-finals. The winners of both the semi-final matches will take on each other in the final. ICC U19 World Cup 2022 final will take place on February 5, 2022.

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