Weather hangs over Under-19 opener in Christchurch tomorrow

Christchurch's weather has been much better behaved in the latter part of this week and if it remains that way the stage is set for a thrilling opening to the ICC Under-19 World Cup at Bert Sutcliffe Oval when host New Zealand meet Sri Lanka in the tournament opener.

Both teams have had victories in the warm-up games available to them in the rain-affected build-up, New Zealand over Pakistan and Sri Lanka over England.

It is a tough task for the New Zealanders, apart from the fact they are playing at home in front of local supporters, they also have to live with the fact that the CLEAR Black Caps are performing so well in Australia, the national side are the defending ICC KnockOut champions and the women are the holders of the CricInfo Women's World Cup.

That realistically should not be a problem as they settle into the tournament because they have enough else to think about.

Qualifying for the Super League part of the programme is top of the list. New Zealand and Sri Lanka are in one of the tougher pools with Zimbabwe the other Test-playing nation in their group while Namibia is expected to be a tough competitor.

No slip-ups can be afforded.

New Zealand coach Mark Greatbatch said losing one of the planned warm-up games was a disappointment and unlike some other sides, New Zealand's opening game of the tournament meant it had no time for another warm-up game today.

Greatbatch said he was very keen to see his team of talented young players perform as naturally as they could with some helpful structures in place so they maximise their opportunities.

"We don't want to stifle their flair but there is a fine line. We would have liked another game.

"We have three Test-playing nations in our pool so we can't take any game lightly," he said.

The Auckland pool where India, South Africa, Bangladesh and Canada meet is the other pool with three Test-playing nations in it.

Pakistan and England are joined by Papua New Guinea and Nepal in the second Christchurch pool while Australia and the West Indies are in Dunedin along with Scotland and Kenya.

Other pool play begins in all three venues on Sunday.

"We need to be urgent in what we do and we need to do the basics right," Greatbatch said.

New Zealand Cricket's chief executive Martin Snedden spoke to the side when it first assembled in Christchurch and reminded them of the methods the senior New Zealand team used when they took part for the first time in the tri-series in Australia in the summer of 1980/81.

"They used a policy of hitting straight, bowling straight, containing the opposition and fielding precisely and if they could do that consistently they knew they would go close," he said.

Sri Lankan coach Owen Mottau said the weather had been frustrating for his side but there was nothing that could be done about that. His players were also having to adapt to cooler conditions than those they were used to.

"I don't think out boys have seen such green wickets. The ball doesn't seem to spin that much but it is a matter of coping with the conditions. That is what they Under-19 tournament is all about, they've got to learn to think about it," he said.

The Sri Lankan side was made up of schoolboys. They were a good fielding side and they bowled reasonably well.

"If our batting clicks that would make us very competitive.

"Expectations in Sri Lanka are high, but they are high whenever Sri Lankan teams play. Our first goal is to make the Super League, we're not thinking past that," Mottau said.

Teams will be chosen from:

New Zealand: Ross Taylor (captain), Simon Allen, Michael Bates, Peter Borren, Neil Broom, Leighton Burtt, Brook Hatwell, Stephen Murdoch, Rob Nicol, Iain Robertson, Jesse Ryder, Ian Sandbrook, Jordan Sheed, Richard Sherlock.

Sri Lanka: Dhammika Niroshana, Jeewan Mendis, Kanchana Gunawardene, Chandra Kumara, Chatrith Fernando, Damith Indika, Eashan Abeysinghe, Chrishanth Perera, Lasith Fernando, Upul Tharanga, Prasad Ranwaka, Lakpriya Wijesiriwardene, Mohamed Maharoof, Dammika Prasad.

The full programme of games for the weekend is (all games start at 10.30am):

Saturday: Group B - New Zealand v Sri Lanka, Bert Sutcliffe Oval. Sunday: Group A - Bangladesh v South Africa, Colin Maiden Park No 1, Auckland; Group B - Zimbabwe v Namibia, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Christchurch; Group C - Pakistan v Papua New Guina, Lincoln Green, Christchurch; Group D - Australia v Kenya, Carisbrook, Dunedin.