Moeen Ali leads England at the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka

The tournament gets under way in Sri Lanka on Sunday, with England opening against Nepal the following day.

"To be honest, we don't know much about them but we're going to treat them with the same respect as any other side," Ali told BBC Asian Network Sport.

"There's a good team spirit. Everyone's willing to work hard."

The boys have been a big support because they're playing well Moeen Ali

The 18-year-old Warwickshire batsman was out for a second-ball duck against India and only managed seven against South Africa.

But he is not too worried about his own form, having led by example on a recent trip to Malaysia where he made scores of 101 and 76.

And he insists that he is not finding the dual role of senior batsman and skipper too onerous a task.

"It is quite a responsibility but its fine at the moment. The boys have been a big support because they're playing well," he said.

England have not won the U19 World Cup since 1998, when Owais Shah was skipper, but reached the semi-finals in Bangladesh two years ago.

Alastair Cook was their captain and star performer in that tournament and the Essex left-hander is now pushing for a place in the senior England team.

This time around they are hopeful of progressing to the knockout phase from a group which also includes Ireland and Zimbabwe.

The World Cup could provide a similar launching pad for Ali, the cousin of England one-day bowler Kabir Ali and brother of Gloucestershire batsman Kadeer.

"I'm not really looking that far at the moment," said Ali, who has only played one first-class match.