Namibia has been drawn in a tough group along with South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh for the ICC U19 World Cup which takes place in Queensland, Australia in August 2012.
The draw was made following the ICC U19 World Cup qualifiers in Ireland last week, which saw the top six qualifying nations joining the ten Test playing nations for next year’s U19 World Cup.
Namibia grabbed the sixth and last qualifying spot to join Ireland, Scotland, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Afghanistan at the 2012 U19 World Cup.
Namibia won four and lost five matches at the World Cup qualifiers, to finish on eight points - the same as the USA and Canada, but Namibia pipped them to the post with a better net run rate.
Namibia had a run rate of +0,494, while the United States’ run rate was -0,118 and Canada’s was -0,355.
It will be the first time that Namibia competes at the ICC U19 World Cup since 2008 when they lost all three their group matches against Australia, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
The defending U19 champions, Australia, were drawn in Group A, along with England, Nepal and Ireland.
Pakistan, New Zealand, Scotland and Afghanistan will play in Group B, while the West Indies, India, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea will play in Group C.
The ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat congratulated the six countries that qualified in Ireland.
"The ICC U19 Cricket World Cup is a very important tournament for us and I want to congratulate those six teams who have qualified to take part in Queensland next year.
"This tournament has proved to be an important stepping stone for elite young cricketers aspiring to play international cricket. It's an opportunity for them to develop and test their skills in a high-pressure situation against the world's best at this level.
"We also use it as an opportunity to educate them on several important issues like anti-corruption, anti-doping and social responsibility expected of international cricketers while also exposing them to the ICC Code of Conduct and media attention.
"In the past, we have seen some quality players come through the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup, including star players like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yuvraj Singh, Brian Lara, Ian Bell, Virat Kohli, Eoin Morgan, Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla. I expect next year's event to be no different in producing future world stars."
A number of future Test captains including Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka, Inzamam-ul-Haq of Pakistan, Graeme Smith of South Africa, Tatenda Taibu of Zimbabwe, Nasser Hussain of England, and Brian Lara of West Indies have featured in the ICC U19 Wold Cup over the years.