ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012 Teams & Players

australia team profile

Winner of the inaugural event in 1988, played in Australia, the host team has won the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup three times. Australia U19s won the event in 2002 and then again in 2010, when it beat tournament favourite Pakistan in the final by 25 runs. The team will be hopeful of defending its title on home soil, and, if it does so, it will become only the second country after Pakistan to win back-to-back titles.

Since the 2010 tournament, the team has had mixed success. In late 2011, Australia travelled to India for a Quadrangular series, where it won two of its six matches. Two rapid fire centuries from Cameron Bancroft and a four-wicket haul from Shane Cassel secured wins against West Indies and Sri Lanka, but the team lost the high-scoring third-place playoff to West Indies by 16 runs.

In April 2012, Australia U19s came second in the Quadrangular series held in Australia, winning two of its three matches before losing to India U19s by seven wickets in the final.

The team can take confidence from its track record at the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup, having one of the best result rates in the tournament. Australia also holds the tournament record for the highest team total of 480/6, against Papua New Guinea in 2002, and the highest first-wicket stand of 228, against Zimbabwe in 1998. And, if the team needs more inspiration, it can look to current international stars who have played in previous ICC U19 Cricket World Cup events, including current Australia captain Michael Clarke, captain of the 2010 winning team Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson.