ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Europe Qualifier (formerly ICC Europe Under-19 Championships) are a series of regular cricket tournaments organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as the European qualifier for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup. The tournament was originally organised by the European Cricket Council (ECC). Traditionally there have always been two divisions though the nature of these divisions has varied strongly over the years.
History European Under 19 Cricket Championships icc-europe.org
The first edition of the tournament was played in 1999 in Northern Ireland. The teams were split across two divisions, the more developed cricketing nations of Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands and Denmark joining England in the A Championship and three other associates, Gibraltar, Italy and Germany forming the B Championship. England won the tournament easily and would not participate again.
Following this inaugural competition, the higher, eventually referred to as Division One, was played every year between Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands and Denmark. Every other year, the Division Two tournament was also played alongside. In 2003, France debuted in the second division, later joined by Belgium and Israel in 2005 and by Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man in 2007.
In 2003, a different approach was taken with all the teams across both divisions participating in a preliminary qualification round. However, this did not affect the make-up of the divisions whatsoever as the four more developed nations easily overpowered the others and cemented their position in Division One. After this the system was abandoned and the old format was reintroduced the following year.
A fresh initiative for the 2006 edition was a new two-day format for Division One. The aim of this was to provide the players with some practice for the style of multi-day play encountered in the Intercontinental Cup. The one-day format returned the following year.Tournament Preview icc-europe.org
2007 saw the two divisions being played separately for the first time when Division One was located in Ireland, but the nine-team Division Two was played in Jersey. This was Jersey's first ever European cricket competition.
Another change was made to the division format in 2009 when Jersey and Guernsey were relocated into Division One. This evened out the number of teams across the divisions and a win from Jersey over Denmark demonstrated their ability to play in the top flight. As a result, the two teams remained for the 2010 tournament where both teams performed even better than the previous year.
Plans have been unveiled that in 2011, for the first time, there will be a chance of promotion from Division Two. The total number of participants will also be increased from thirteen to fifteen.ICC Europe Tournaments icc-europe.org 18 February 2011
Tournament results
Division One YearHost(s)Venue(s)ResultWinnerMarginRunner-up 1999 Belfast 185/5 (43.2 overs) England won by 5 wickets(needed 184 in 48 overs) scorecard 190/8 (50 overs) 2000 Northampton 6 points Ireland won on pointstable 2 points 2001 Edinburgh 6 points Scotland won on pointstable 4 points 2002 Oundle 6 points Scotland won on pointstable 4 points 2003 Deventer 6 points Ireland won on pointstable 2 points 2004 Oundle 4 points Ireland and Scotland drew on pointstable 4 points 2005 Dundee 6 points Scotland won on pointstable 4 points 2006 Belfast 59 points Ireland won on pointstable 37 points 2007 Belfast 6 points Ireland won on pointstable 4 points 2008 Glasgow +3.49 NRR Scotland won on net run ratetable +1.22 NRR 2009 various +1.69 NRR Ireland won on net run ratetable +1.45 NRR 2010 Belfast 10 points Scotland won on pointstable 8 points 2013 various 10 points Scotland won on pointstable 6 points 2015 various +1.036 NRR Scotland won on net run ratetable +0.793 NRR 2017 various 12 points Ireland won on pointstable 8 points 2019 various 10 points Scotland won on pointstable 8 points 2021 Almería 144 Ireland won by 78 runsscorecard 66 2023 various 9 points Scotland won on pointstable 5 points 2025 10 points various 144 Scotland won on pointstable 8 points
Division Two YearHostVenue(s)FinalWinnerResultRunner-up 1999 Belfast 7 points Gibraltar won on pointstable 5 points 2001 Edinburgh 6 points Germany won on pointstable 4 points 2003 Deventer 6 points Germany won on pointstable 4 points 2005 Dundee 10 points Gibraltar won on pointstable 8 points 2007 various 4 points Jersey won on pointstable 2 points 2009 Antwerp +1.71 (NRR) Belgium won on net run ratetable +1.67 (NRR) 2011 various 140 (39 overs) Denmark won by 60 runsscorecard 80 (34.2 overs) 2014 Essex +3.29 (NRR) Jersey won on net run ratetable +2.69 (NRR) 2016 various 12 points Denmark won on pointstable 6 points 2018 various 281/6 (50 overs) Netherlands won by 154 runsscorecard 127 (40.5 overs) 2022 various 170/4 (38 overs) Italy won by 6 wicketsscorecard 169 (47 overs) 2024 various 87/6 (23 overs) Netherlands won by 4 wicketsscorecard 86 (32.5 overs)
Participating teams (Division One) Legend – Champions – Runners-up – Third place – Hosts AQ – Automatically qualified for the World Cup X – Qualified but withdrew
Team 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 2025 2027 Total 6th 3rd 4th 2nd 3rd 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 5th 6th 5th ― 4th 5th X ― 4th Q17 1st Automatically qualified 1 — — — ― — — — — ― ― ― ― ― ― ― 6th ― ― ― ― 1 ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― 6th 5th 6th ― ― ― X 2nd 5th ― 5 2nd 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 1st 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 2nd 1st AQ 17 — — — ― — — — — ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― 6th ― Q 2 — ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― 4th 3rd 4th 3rd 3rd 3rd 4th 3rd 3rd Q 10 3rd 2nd 3rd 4th 4th 3rd 3rd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 4th 3rd 4th ― 4th 3rd 4th 2nd Q19 — — — ― — — — — ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― 5th ― —1 4th 4th 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 1st 2nd 2nd 1st 3rd 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st Q20 — — — ― — — — — ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― 6th Q 2
See also ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Asia Qualifier
European Cricket Championship
References