The last few weeks, which I spent being the event ambassador for the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, was an exhilarating experience, especially watching the young talent on show in this special tournament.
It was nerve-racking to do commentary and work behind the mic – I haven’t been that nervous in a while – but it was great to see how everyone worked together to make it a successful production. I was immersed in the World Cup and I enjoyed every moment of it.
The tournament benefited enormously from a vibrant atmosphere at each of the five venues, and this will no doubt have helped bring the best out of the exceptional talent and formidable teams on display. Australia emerged as the deserving winners, but before delving into their triumph, it’s essential to acknowledge how remarkable it is to organise such a significant event in such a short space of time.
It will have taken a huge amount of work and I must give a lot of credit to the ICC and Cricket South Africa for making this tournament successful with such little time to prepare.
While we saw glimpses of brilliance from players throughout the tournament, I think the two semi-finals summed up how close some of the top teams were. It was pleasing to see these youngsters playing fearless cricket under this amount of pressure in front of packed crowds.
It’s hard to imagine what must go through the minds of the young fans watching on. It will have no doubt been an inspirational experience for a 10-year-old child. After all, it could be a dream for them to one day represent their country on this stage, a stepping stone to making it to a higher level.
Being on the ground, you couldn’t help but notice how the fans streamed through the gates in big numbers. On the grass banks, you saw a lot of families, even on weekdays. It was great to have parents deciding to bring their kids along to witness the action.
South Africa is a place that loves sport, especially cricket. An event like this brings people together, and it creates memorable experiences for families to cherish for a long time.
When you see cricket happening in your country, in your own backyard rather than on TV, it just feels more realistic, more accessible. You see the young guys, you see the players, you see the opportunity that there is. And that makes it special. That’s what the tournament is about.
On to the cricket itself, India and Australia were really impressive and deserved to be in the final. But, naturally, I always kept a close eye on South Africa, and I thought they were exceptional. Their semi-final against India was a high-quality game, and it could have gone either way. In all, the South African team can keep their head high – they were one of the top teams in the tournament, and they made all those fans who came down to watch them proud.
After those closely-fought semi-finals, the final was perhaps a bit one-sided, but you could see the quality in Australia. They were the team with the most all-round strength, and it showed, especially in the final when they needed a big team contribution. They had four different fast bowlers who all bowled well, a dependable captain, and different players who all stepped up at different stages of the tournament.
For instance, in the final, Harjas Singh contributed with the all-important half-century – he did not have the greatest of tournaments up until then, but he came good when it mattered. As a team, you don’t want to be relying on one or two players. The whole team needs to contribute, and Australia had more players who they could rely on than the other semi-finalists. And that’s the mark of a good team.
As a fast bowler, I always keep a particularly keen eye on that discipline, and I came away very impressed with the pace-bowling on display in the tournament. Many pacers made an impression in the tournament, particularly the Australian attack – I thought they complemented each other well. I’m not going to put pressure on the players by naming who stood out to me, however. All these players still have a long way to go.
Make no mistake, playing in this World Cup would have been an invaluable experience for every player who turned out for their countries in the last few weeks. They’d have all learnt so many things; what you need to do at certain stages in matches, how you need to react when the pressure is on – these are things you can only learn from playing high-pressure tournaments.
I didn’t have that till much later in my journey as I didn’t transition to the senior team through the U19 World Cup route. After not making the squad, I tried as hard as I could to reach every other level there was. And I was a better player for it when I finally got my breakthrough at senior level. That’s a valuable reminder to everyone – the work doesn’t stop. The journey has just begun.
It’s also, of course, important to savour the good moments. So I’d urge all the players to take some time to reflect on the last few weeks – it’s a great honour and a massive step in your career to make the jump into an international U19 team. After that, just keep on doing what you’ve been doing. You don’t have to change things to be the best version of yourself.
Keep on doing what you’ve been doing, and hopefully, I’ll play with and against some of you soon at international level
