Hong Kong’s brightest developing talent will have the opportunity to get their first taste of the international stage in 2016 with the schedule unveiled for an Under-19 Asia Youth Cup to be held in December.

Hong Kong will take part in the qualifying tournament held in Kuala Lumpur in September/October, where the top two teams will qualify for the main draw held in Sri Lanka.

For under-19s coach Simon Cook it means a busy period preparing the group for the important fixtures.

“Really the priorities for the Under-19 group is to establish a core group of players, which we have been doing over the last month,” Cook said.

“We have got a group of 20, put them through a vigorous six-week training program, and then have a final selection of 14 to take part in the ACC Under-19 World Cup Qualifiers in Malaysia.”

“The goal will be to finish in the top two. I think that’s where we have got to finish. Looking at the teams that are in this competition, I think that’s definitely a realistic target.”

The challenge for Cook is made greater with the squad all having to balance their cricket training around school commitments, with most of the players in the final years of school.

The squad is young, even for the under-19 age group, but Cook is excited by the talent coming through.

“The main players in the Under-19 are guys like Raag Kapur, Jhatavedh Subramanyan and Kabir Sodhi. They are the guys we are looking at to move this forward from the Under-19 perspective.”

“Waqas Khan still qualifies to play in the Under-19. Obviously he will be a big part, he has got a lot of experience having played quite a few T20s and ODIs with the senior men’s team.”

Although the squad does not contain any Chinese representatives, Cook says from the encouraging signs he’s observed, it won’t be long before the development in local schools pays off.

“A number of the clubs and HKCA are putting together programs at the grassroots, so we should start seeing some Chinese players coming through in three or four years time,” Cook said.

“I know there is more Chinese involvement now at grassroots level than when I first came here three years ago. Let’s hope we can produce one or two players in the next three or four-year cycle.

The under 19s squad of 14 will fly to Sri Lanka a week before the qualifying tournament in Malaysia to acclimatise and finalise their preparations.

香港年輕板球新秀今年將會首次一嘗國際賽滋味，出戰國際板球理事會「U19亞洲盃」外圍賽。

香港青年軍將於九及十月到吉隆坡出戰外圍賽，成績最好的兩隊將會晉級到12月於斯里蘭卡舉行的主賽圈。十九歲以下港隊教練曲世民（Simon Cook）開始忙於為球隊備戰。

他表示：「19歲以下港隊的首要目標是集合一班核心球員。我們過去一個月正在舉行試訓。」

「球隊現在的集訓名單有20位球員，他們會進行六星期高強度的訓練計劃。名單其後會減少至14名球員，出戰國際賽。」

「球隊的目標是要晉身頭兩名。環顧賽事的其他球隊，我認為這是一個合理的目標。」

不過除了對手之外，曲教練還需要面對其他挑戰。U19球員都是學生，大部份更將要應付公開試，需要平衡學業及板球訓練。就算以U19的標準來說，球隊仍算年輕，不過曲教練對球員的天份十分滿意：「U19球隊的主力包括 Raag Kapur, Jhatavedh Subramanyan 及 Kabir Sodhi，他們會是晉級主賽圈的重要成員。」

「瓦格斯汗（Waqas Khan）仍然合資格出戰U19賽事，他是香港一隊成員，擁有很多頂級國際賽經驗，絕對是U19的主力。」

雖然20人名單中沒有華人球員，但是曲教練指他觀察到很多正面的趨勢，板總的青訓將會漸見成效：「不同的球會及板總都籌辦多個學童板球計劃，三至四年後應該會有華人球員成功晉身香港青年軍。比起我三年前剛來到香港的時候，現在多了很多華人小朋友參與板球活動，希望我們在每三至四年可以培養到一至兩個港隊華人球員。」

U19香港隊的14人陣容將於外圍賽舉行前一星期出發到斯里蘭卡進行賽前集訓，然後再到馬來西亞進行比賽。