Young players targets

International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat said participants in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup were the most vulnerable players to the attentions of potential match-fixers in the world game.

Speaking at the launch of the competition in Dunedin, ahead of the first day of New Zealand's Test season which starts with Pakistan's 'home Test' at the University Oval, Lorgat said the players at the tournament would be given specific education of how to watch out for individuals who would be trying to befriend them with an eye to using their contact in the future.

Lorgat said previous tournaments had proven that it was this age group that the match-fixers used to make contact with players, develop a friendship and then attempt to use that friendship for their own devices in the future.

Some players had reported contact with people like those described.

The anti-corruption education of players had not lessened in recent years and Lorgat said the ICC hoped that would continue to be efficient at the New Zealand tournament.

Sixteen teams will take part in the tournament which runs from January 15-30.

He was sure the tournament, which was transferred to New Zealand belatedly after the original host Kenya was unable to meet ICC requirements for staging the event was in good hands.

New Zealand Cricket had an experienced core of individuals who had handled ICC events before, including the 2002 Under-19 World Cup and the 2000 Women's World Cup.

The head of the New Zealand part of the operation, Tim Murdoch, said plans were well in hand at the venues to be used in Queenstown, Bert Sutcliffe Oval (Lincoln), Palmerston North and Napier.

Meanwhile, Lorgat also announced that the ICC hoped to have in place its own permanent security adviser early in the New Year, and announced that each of the major countries in the ICC would be required to appoint their own security specialist in the future.