Well-prepared Aussies aiming for back-to-back U19 world titles

3h ago Luke Mason & Jack Paynter

Melbourne Renegades prodigy Oliver Peake will captain Australia at the ICC tournament beginning Thursday

A cavalcade of names that shape as the future of Australian cricket will be on show at the ICC Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup in Zimbabwe and Namibia.

The tournament, which gets underway this Thursday when India take on the United States in Bulawayo, will provide a platform for Australia to defend its title from the previous edition in 2024.

Australia's first match will take place this Friday against Ireland, followed by further group stage fixtures against Japan and Sri Lanka. The Super Six matches will follow for those who qualify, with the final to be held in Harare on February 6.

The squad

Australia: Oliver Peake (c) (Victoria), Kasey Barton (NSW), Naden Cooray (NSW), Jayden Draper (Queensland), Steven Hogan (Queensland), Thomas Hogan (ACT), Ben Gordon (Queensland), John James (NSW), Charles Lachmund (Queensland), Alex Lee-Young (NSW), Will Malajczuk (WA), Nitesh Samuel (NSW), Hayden Schiller (SA), Aryan Sharma (Victoria), William Taylor (NSW)

The captain

Oliver Peake is one of the brightest young talents in the game, and he already has the record to prove it.

The Geelong product will enter the tournament with 10 first-class matches under his belt, to go with his six domestic one-dayers and seven Big Bash matches.

It was in the last of those BBL fixtures that he officially put his name on the national radar, swatting a last-ball boundary to seal victory for Melbourne Renegades over Perth Scorchers.

Symbolising the whirlwind existence of a cricketer in the T20 era, Peake was on his way to Perth Airport just 66 minutes after hitting the winning runs, bound for Africa where he will captain Australia at the U19 tournament.

19yo Peake stuns Scorchers with match-winning knock

Peake is a veteran of the previous campaign in 2024, when Australia were crowned champions thanks to a 79-run win over India.

He played a vital role in that success, too, making an unbeaten 46 to steer the Aussies to a defendable total.

Captaincy is a responsibility that sits comfortably with Peake, who told cricket.com.au he has plenty of previous experience at junior level in local and representative teams to call upon.

"I feel like I'm confident with captaincy. I've had some good exposure over the course of my junior career. It feels like I've been growing to this point, and it's a massive honour and a privilege to be able to do it at the highest junior level," he said.

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His knows his past involvement with the U19 team is set to serve him well in the month to come.

"I remember thinking when I was 15 that I really want to make the next World Cup and play two years of it," Peake said.

"That was always something that I was looking forward to.

"It didn't end up working out how I had it planned. I was a reserve player (in 2024), and then, I guess the stars aligned in a way. Unfortunately for Corey Wasley, he broke his finger, so I was lucky to get over there.

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"It was unreal that the coaches showed some faith in me and believed that I could play a role. A lot of the time I was coming in at No.6 in good situations that the older boys had already put us in. I was just lucky to knock it around and get a couple of scores.

"It definitely gives me confidence coming back and knowing what to expect."

Players to watch

Having shared the U19 stage with the likes of Sam Konstas, Hugh Weibgen, Mahli Beardman and Callum Vidler, Peake believes a number of his current teammates – while not household names yet – will be players to keep an eye on for the future.

Steven Hogan: "I went to India with him last year, and he was incredible to bat with," Peake said. "He is little as well, but he's got heaps of skill. He can hit the gaps, loves batting, makes so many runs in their grade competition. I think the Queensland guys are already calling him mini–Don Bradman or something like that." Indeed, Hogan has already cracked a first-grade ton as well as two fifties for Sandgate-Redcliffe this season, while he also hit 92 against India U19s in a four-day match in September.
Charles Lachmund: "He will probably be the leader of our attack (and) our fastest bowler. He angles in towards the stumps and can bowl at high speed," Peake said. Lachmund dominated the U19 National Championships last month with 13 wickets in five games, while he took a first grade five-wicket haul for Ipswich in November and six wickets in three games during the U19 series against India earlier in the summer.

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Will Malajczuk and Jayden Draper: "Those two also impressed against India in the recent U19 series," Peake said. Malajczuk led the Aussie U19s in that series in the absence of Peake, while the off-spinning allrounder has also been on the fringes of WA's one-day team this season. Draper meanwhile hit a superb 107 against India in the second Youth ODI in September.

The format

A total of 16 teams will compete in the tournament, with three teams from the four groups of four to advance to the Super Six stage.

2026 men's U19 World Cup groups

Group A: Australia, Ireland, Japan, Sri Lanka

Group B: Bangladesh, India, New Zealand, USA

Group C: England, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe

Group D: Afghanistan, South Africa, Tanzania, West Indies

See the full tournament schedule here

The top three teams from Group A and D will form one Super Six group, while top three from Group B and C will be combined in another Super Six group. The points, wins and net run-rate earned against the other progressing Super Six teams will be carried forward.

Those that progress will play two matches in the Super Six stage against teams from the other groups, and the top two teams from each Super Six group will take part in the semi-finals that precede the final on February 6.

Peake to lead Aussies' title defence at U19 World Cup

The legacy of the U19s

Australia has won four U19 men's World Cups since the first edition in 1988, including the inaugural (1988) and the most recent (2024).

The alumni from those Australian teams is a roll call of famous figures in the nation's cricket history in the decades since.

Stuart Law (1988), Cameron White (2002), George Bailey (2002), Beau Casson (2002), Dan Christian (2002), Xavier Doherty (2002), Shaun Marsh (2002), Mark Cosgrove (2002), Mitch Marsh (2010), Josh Hazlewood (2010), Nic Maddinson (2010), Kane Richardson (2010), Adam Zampa (2010) and Sam Konstas (2024) are those who went on to represent Australia, while Alan Mullally (1988) played international cricket for England.

The Australian U19 men's team celebrate their success in 2010 // Getty

"It's cool to think that this group could be names like that in the future," Peake said.

"We've already seen from two years ago how strong that crop was … it's exciting turning the Big Bash on every night to watch and there's someone from our team playing.

"Hopefully, (this year's U19 team) can be something similar to that."

ICC U19 Men's World Cup 2026

Australia squad: Oliver Peake (c) (Victoria), Kasey Barton (NSW), Naden Cooray (NSW), Jayden Draper (Queensland), Steven Hogan (Queensland), Thomas Hogan (ACT), Ben Gordon (Queensland), John James (NSW), Charles Lachmund (Queensland), Alex Lee-Young (NSW), Will Malajczuk (WA), Nitesh Samuel (NSW), Hayden Schiller (SA), Aryan Sharma (Victoria), William Taylor (NSW)