BCB chief executive officer Mackbul Hussein Dudhia made the announcement at a press conference yesterday.

Although enthusiasm among fans for the youth cricket gala is yet too set in, the organisers said that they had gone by the instructions from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to make tickets available for the spectators a month in advance.

Selected branches of state-owned Janata Bank will sell the tickets. Matches of the U/19 World Cup will be spread over eight venues in five regions Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Barisal, Rajshahi and tickets will be sold at designated branches of those regions.

The venues are BNS, Fatullah Stadium, Bangladesh Krira Shikha Protistan (BKSP), MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong, Chittagong Divisional Stadium, Bogra District Stadium, Khulna Divisional Stadium and Rajshahi Divisional Stadium.

The 16-team event comprising under-19 sides of the ten ICC full members and six associates members will begin on February 15 with hosts Bangladesh taking on New Zealand at the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS) in one of the opening day matches.

Before that, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia will officially inaugurate the meet on February 10 at the BNS.

Bangladesh have been placed in a pool that includes India, New Zealand and Scotland.

The other participating countries are Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England, Zimbabwe, Canada, Nepal, Ireland, Uganda and Papua New Guinea.

"To encourage the young people, we have fixed Tk 15 for a gallery ticket and we are also keeping cheap rates for the other special enclosures. Our target is to earn between Tk 15 to 20 lakhs from ticket sales during the tournament," said Khondkar Jamil Uddin, chairman of the BCB's Ticket and Seating committee.

Where to get the tickets

ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2004 will be held in Bangladesh (Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi & Bogra) from 15th February to 5th March 2004. Match tickets are available at the following branches of Janata Bank from 15th January 2004:

Dhaka: Ramna Corporate, Farmgate Corporate, Satmasjid Road Corporate, Rajuk Bhaban Corporate, Uttara Model Town Corporate, Gulshan Circle-1, Mirpur Sector-10, Mouchak Market, Dhaka University Campus, Dhakeswari Road, Victoria Park, Jurain.

Savar: Savar, Gonoshastya Kendra.

Narayanganj: BB Road Corporate, Fatullah.

Chittagong: Laldighi East Corporate, Sk Mujib Road Corporate, Kazirdewri, WASA, New Market, Colonel Hat, Pahartali, Dewanhat.

Rajshahi: Rajshahi Corporate, Haragram, Kazihata, Rani Bazar, Nowdapara.

Khulna: Khulna Corporate, Khan-A-Sabur, Nur Nagar, Dawlatpur, Cantonment.

Jessore: MK Road Corporate.

Bogra: Bogra Corporate, Fuldighi, Saptapadi Market, Chandni Bazar.

N.B. Ticket for matches in each region shall only be available from that particular region.