PORT-OF-SPAIN – Eight teams will contest the CLICO-International Under-15 Cricket Tournament in the Caribbean in April.

The eight teams are West Indies, Pakistan, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Holland, Bangladesh and the International Cricket Council (ICC) Americas team, comprised of players from Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands and Bahamas.

The tournament, which takes place from April 19 to May 4, will be run by All Sports Promotions. It will be the first of its kind since the Costcutter Under-15 Championships that was won by the West Indies in England in 2000.

There will be matches in Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Guyana, Barbados and St Kitts.

All Sports director Bruce Aanensen, a former CEO of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), said the championships would be split into a knockout (April 19-24) and a league stage (April 26-May 4).

Test-playing countries England, New Zealand, and Australia will be missing from the tournament.

"England have told us that the period of the tournament clashes with their school exams, while Australia and New Zealand have both indicated to us that they don't play competitively at the Under-15 level," Aanensen said.

(CMC)