Sri Lanka’s loss is South Africa’s gain as the island’s cricket upheavals have gifted South Africa a third opportunity to host the Under-19 World Cup.
In a stunning turn of events, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has moved to strip hosting rights from Sri Lanka as South Africa again are named hosts of the Under-19 World Cup.
The decision was made on Tuesday after the ICC held a board meeting at which it was unanimously decided to move the tournament from Sri Lanka to South Africa – citing excessive government interference in the SLC’s administration.
The last time South Africa hosted this tournament was back in 2020 and before that was 1998 so this just shows that SA is quality when it comes to hosting cricket tournaments.
The tournament will run from 13 January to 4 February and you guessed it, it will run concurrently with the SA20which is running from 10 January to 10 February.
The SA20 will be taking part at six grounds: Hollywoodbets Kingsmead, the Wanderers, SuperSport Park Centurion, Newlands, Boland Park St. George’s Park.
That will rule out any of the above venues for the U19 World Cup. However, grounds like Benoni, Potchefstroom, Kimberley and Bloemfontein, which all hosted the U19 World Cup games three years ago, will need to become viable playing options.
If you do remember, South Africa successfully hosted the Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this year. This had also run slightly concurrently with the inaugural SA20.
The U19 World Cup will now form part of the build-up to the 2027 Men’s 50-over World Cup that will be hosted by South Africa alongside Zimbabwe and Namibia, with South Africa returning to the front line of hosting ICC events
