SOUTH East Zone will begin defence of their Scotiabank NextGen Under-15 cricket title against South when the 2023 edition of the youth development programme bowls off on Wednesday.

The south derby will be played at the Sancho Branch Road Recreation Ground, Princes Town, and is the feature of four fixtures carded in the opening round.

South East Zone played unbeaten when the tournament was staged last season after the two-year hiatus because of the pandemic.

However, the final against Central was severely disrupted by rain and eventually had to be called off after South East, batting first reached 152 for eight after 32 overs, and six interruptions for the weather. The clash was eventually called off by the umpires and South East were crowned champions by virtue of their winning record.

Additionally, last year’s finalists Central also begin on Wednesday against South West at the Agostini Settlement Recreation Ground in Chase Village.

North Zone will relish their home advantage at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, when they oppose North East in another key encounter while East Zone host Tobago at the National Cricket Centre in Couva.

Peter Ghany, Scotiabank Foundation director said the success of the partnership with the TT Cricket Board is evidenced by the number of cricketers graduating to the national Red Force team.

“The ambition of the Scotiabank NextGen Cricket Development Programme is to positively impact the lives of our young people. We are aiming to improve their education and employment prospects so that they can adapt to changing circumstances and increase the likelihood of financial success,” Ghany said.

There will be three rounds of preliminary matches on February 1, 8 and 15 with the semi-finals on February 24 and the final on March 1. All matches are of 50-Overs per team and get underway at the respective venues at 9.30 am.

SCOTIABANK NEXTGEN UNDER-15 TOURNAMENT

Group A: East, North East, Tobago, North`

Group B: South, Central, South East, South West

Round 1 Fixtures (February 1)

Tobago vs East, National Cricket Centre, Balmain

North East vs North, Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain

Central vs South West, Agostini Settlement Recreation Gd.

South East vs South, Sancho Branch Road Recreation Gd.