4 Feb 2016

Sport: Fiji cricketers to shuffle line-up

1:30 pm on 4 February 2016

Fiji will give their wider squad a chance to impress at the Under 19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh.

The Melanesian side suffered heavy defeats to England, Zimbabwe and West Indies in the group stage, taking only 13 wickets and failing to score more than 81 runs in three matches.

Malakai Cokovaki, Ledua Qionivoka and Petero Cabebula have yet to play in the World Cup and coach Shane Jurgensen said, after making just one change in the group stage, he intends to rotate his squad in their final three matches.

"In all reality, it's a development tour to develop these guys - not just now but also in the future. Yeah we've still got a lot of work to do in a lot of areas and these guys [we've come up against] are definitely a lot more experienced actually playing the game. Unfortunately [we're] a little bit behind the eight-ball in that area however what a great experience for these guys to be exposed and it's going to contribute well to the senior men's team in the future."

Fiji's next match is against Afghanistan tomorrow in the playoffs for ninth place.

The Fiji Under 19 team at the World Cup in Bangladesh.

The Fiji Under 19 team at the World Cup in Bangladesh. Photo: Cricket Fiji