ESPNcricinfo staff 3y

2022 Under-19 men's World Cup qualifying events set to begin in June 2021

Cricket

The 2022 men's Under-19 World Cup in the West Indies will involve 16 teams, 11 of which - the hosts, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe - have already qualified by virtue of a top-11 finish in the 2020 edition. Thirty-three teams, to come through seven regional events starting in June next year, will vie for the remaining five spots, the ICC announced on Sunday.

According to a statement issued by the governing body, "Due to the depth in strength in the Africa and Asia regions, a two-division qualification pathway will take place.

"Teams from the other three regions, Americas, EAP and Europe will have a one-division qualifying process, with the winner of each regional Qualifier claiming one of the five coveted ICC U-19 Men's Cricket World Cup 2022 places."

Nigeria, Scotland, Japan, the USA and the UAE have been named hosts of the Africa, Europe, East-Asia Pacific, the Americas, and Asia qualifiers respectively. The first of the qualifying tournaments, originally delayed by a year due to Covid-19, will begin in Nigeria in September after its participants are determined by the Africa Division 2 regional event in Tanzania in June.

The ICC on Saturday announced that the ten-team 2023 Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa, which was recently postponed from November 2022 to February 2023, will see the top-seven teams - from the ten nations that participated in the 2020 event - earn direct qualification based on their ICC rankings as on November 30, 2021.

Hosts South Africa have gained automatic qualification, and the remaining two spots will be determined through regional qualifiers, slated to begin in August next year.

While the 2020 T20 World Cup qualifiers involved only 10 teams, 37 nations will be competing for the two final spots for the 2023 world tournament. The governing body said in a statement that as many as 115 T20Is will be played in the ICC events in the lead-up to the global event in 2023, which will run from February 9 to 26.