The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup qualifiers trophy was unveiled in Abu Dhabi, with the event attended by the captains of the 14 participating countries in the tournament.
Group A team captains (Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Scotland, Netherlands, Kenya and Bermuda) addressed the media at an pre-tournament press conference at the Press Conference Room of the Dubai International Stadium (DIS) on 12th Oct 2019 at 5:30 PM (local).
Captains Dion Stvell of Bermuda, Shem Ngoche of Kenya, Merwe Erasmus of Namibia, Pieter Seelar of the Netherlands, Shem Ngoche of Kenya, Assad Vala of Papua New Guinea and Amjad Mahboob of Singapore took questions from reporters and posed with the trophy.
https://youtu.be/xlfjNLw3b5w
Bermuda captain Dion Stvell: “We are here to showcase our talent. As for Bermuda cricket, I guess we are in the next stage of the qualifiers, so to say. There are 13 teams joining us here and we are looking to compete well against them and move Bermuda cricket forward.”
Kenya captain Shem Ngoche: “It is going to be a really good tournament. As we all know, there are some very good teams here. For us it will be a very important tournament because all of you know where our cricket is. If we get a chance to qualify, it will be the starting point of a new phase for Kenyan cricket.”
Namibia captain Merwe Erasmus: “For Namibia it is an important tournament. We haven’t qualified from one of these (tournaments) yet, so it puts us in a nice space since we have nothing to lose. I expect all the teams to know that we are dangerous as we are a free team. We are in a good group and it is going to be a tough challenge.”
Netherlands captain Pieter Seelaar: “Besides everything that has been said about it being a hard fought tournament, I think there is also going to be a lot of pride and passion on show for us. There is going to be a bit of pressure on us because people label us as bit of favourites. But I think there is going to be some upsets throughout the tournament. As Kyle (Coetzer, Scotland captain) there is going to be excellent talent on show. I am looking forward to see who is going to do well.”
PNG captain Assad Vala: “It is going to be a really important tournament for us and all the teams. We all deserve to be here. We have worked really hard to get here. We have got some really good teams to play against. Hopefully we can get the job done.”
Singapore captain Amjad Mahboob: “This tournament is very important for us. It is the first time Singapore has reached until this level and we are really looking forward to this tournament. I hope we can do our best in this tournament.”
Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer: “We are expecting a hard fought tournament. Every team deserves to be here. There are a lot of powerful teams here and we are expecting a hard fought and challenging tournament. It is vitally important not only for us as Scotland but for every team here so we expect to see some quality cricket I am sure and hopefully we can represent our countries very well.”
[irp posts=”17585″ name=”Warm-up fixtures announced for Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers”]
Group B team captains (Ireland, Oman, UAE, Hong Kong, Canada, Jersey and Nigeria) were present for a pre-tournament press conference at the Press Conference Room of the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on 13th Oct 2019 at 5:30 PM (local).
Gary Wilson of Ireland, Zeeshan Maqsood of Oman, Ahmed Raza of the United Arab Emirates, Aizaz Khan of Hong Kong, Navneet Dhaliwal of Canada, Charles Perchard of Jersey and Ademola Onikoyi of Nigeria addressed the media.
https://youtu.be/zDW4OTQU9bo
Canada captain Navneet Dhaliwal: “We really love the facilities that have we have been provided with here. Needless to say, it will be massive for Canada to qualify from here.”
Hong Kong captain Aizaz Khan: “We have a very young squad – and thus the game excitement is palpable in the dressing room. Last years Asia cup performance boosted our morale and we look to extend our special connection with the UAE.”
Ireland captain Gary Wilson: “We are here to compete at the world stage. The intent is to win the tournament and then pick the right squad for Australia. We have a great record in the Middle East and the boys are looking forward to a great tournament and ensure we finish right at the top again.”
Jersey captain Charles Perchard: ““For a small country like ours, it’s fantastic to have reached so far – it’s a great opportunity as professionals to showcase talent on the world stage and we hope to make friends and family proud with our performances. It would be one of the biggest moments in our country’s sporting history if we qualify to be honest.”
Nigeria captain Ademola Onikoyi: “This tournament provides us with a great opportunity to qualify for a World Cup in a sport which is still in its nascent stages of development in our country. Our juniors also have qualified for the U19 World Cup – so if we manage to do the same, it will set the right tone for the development of Cricket in Nigeria.”
Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood: “Our dream is to qualify for the World Cup next year and I feel we have had the right kind of preparation for that. We come to this tournament having won a bunch of matches and we will be looking forward to take forward the momentum.”
UAE captain Ahmed Raza: “Firstly, I want to welcome all other teams here – I feel we are all looking forward to an exciting tournament. We have the added aspiration of lifting the cup at home, but I don’t think that will bog us down – we are confident and hopefully that will show when the matches start.”
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