While their senior teams vie for qualification to the Twenty20 World Cup the cream of the continent's youth head to Jersey to claim a much coveted place in the 2016 U19 World Cup.

Jersey will be looking to cap a momentous year by progressing to the global showpiece event for the first time. In recent years their focus on youth has paid dividends with the core of the senior team recent graduates from the youth ranks. It will hope that the squad can emerge as future stars, though they will miss the dynamic batting of Jonty Jenner, the teenage sensation who will be a player to watch at the T20 World Cup qualifier.

The Netherlands have qualified for the U19 World Cup before, but back in 2000 and they will be keen to show they can compete with Ireland and Scotland despite a smaller player base. They have been clever in giving exposure to their youth prospects in the North Sea Pro Series which has given much of this squad big game experience, which could prove vital. There are some familiar surnames in the squad in the form of Van Troost and De Leede, and the Zulfiqar triplets will be ones to watch.

Ireland have a proud record of qualification and have competed in every U19 World Cup from 2006 to 2012, mirroring their dominance in associate cricket. But they missed out in 2014 and will desperate to show that their youth development programme can still produce players of the calibre of Dockrell and Stirling. Jack Tector is very highly regarded and has already attracted interest from counties. He will be the focal point for a squad that includes his younger brother.

There will, as ever, be strong rivalry between the Irish and Scots. While the Irish have a higher profile on the international stage, thanks to world cup heroics, it is Scotland who have qualified for the last two U19 Cricket World Cups. They too have integrated some of the youth squad into the North Sea Pro Series and are looking to bring young talent into the national team as soon as they are ready. The likes of Ben Wilkinson, who has trialled for Durham, will be looking to follow in the footsteps of Gavin Main and Andrew Umeed.

The runner up in the tournament will get a second opportunity to qualify through a repechage event.