Nathan Edward of West Indies bowls during the ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup South Africa 2024 Super Six match between Sri Lanka and West Indies at Diamond Oval on January 30, 2024 in Kimberley, South Africa.
Future stars hailing from five different nations including newly-crowned champions Australia comprise the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2024 Team of the Tournament, announced today by the International Cricket Council.
Australia captain Hugh Weibgen is given the honour of leading out the star-studded lineup, chosen by an esteemed panel of media, broadcast and ICC representatives.
India enjoyed a resounding campaign leading up to Sunday’s final, and mark their impressive tournament with four names in the team. Champions Australia have three players included, South Africa have two names – including the Player of the Tournament Kwena Maphaka – while the West Indies and Pakistan each have one player feature.
The selection panel consisted of commentary representatives Ian Bishop, Melinda Farrell and Abhinav Mukund, media representative Telford Vice, and ICC Head of Events, Chris Tetley.
The Team of the Tournament for the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup (in batting order):
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South Africa’s Pretorius takes the gloves for this Team of the Tournament, and also heads up the batting order, after a series of impressive and explosive displays in the Proteas surge to the semi-final.
The wicketkeeper batter hit three half-centuries towards the back end of the tournament, including an eye-catching 76 in the semi-final against India, and will be remembered for contributing heavily to his side’s fast starts, ending the U19 Men’s CWC with a strike rate of 94.09.
Australia’s Harry Dixon partners him atop the order after a superb tournament and some invaluable contributions in the knockout stages. Dixon remained resolute in the semi-final and final despite the challenges posed by bowling attacks of Pakistan and India, registering important runs atop the order in both, as well as their emphatic win over England in the Super Six stage.
India’s Musheer Khan takes the number three spot as the only batter to register two centuries during the competition. Despite a subdued end to the tournament, Musheer displayed plenty of early promise, featuring a wide array of attacking shots, as well as an ability to pick up wickets with his probing left-arm spin.
Captain Weibgen was instrumental to Australia’s fourth U19 Men’s CWC title, providing valuable runs and making intelligent on-field decisions that sparked another successful campaign. After a sensational match-winning century against rivals England on a difficult Kimberley pitch in the Super Six stage, Weibgen continued to grow as a player and leader, eventually sealing the deal with victory in Benoni inspired by his decision at the toss and with team selection.
Top run-scorer for the event, Uday Saharan played a pivotal role in India’s dominance through to the final. Scoring consistently throughout the event and registering a century against Nepal, Saharan saved his best performance for the thrilling semi-final against South Africa, dragging India back from the brink of elimination with a vital 81 runs to seal their spot in the final.
Saharan’s primary ally that day was Sachin Dhas, and the composed right-hander also earns a place in the Team of the Tournament for his ability to relieve pressure situations, and the innovative and aggressive strokeplay that charactised India’s wins over Nepal (116 runs) and South Africa (96 runs).
The West Indies made a promising start to the tournament, and could have progressed through to the semi-finals had their all-or-nothing match against Australia not been washed out. All-rounder Nathan Edward was a standout performer for the side, in particular during their win against England in Potchefstroom, taking three wickets and hitting 49 in a high-pressure chase.
The four out and out bowlers in the side all found success in their respective sides.
Australia’s Callum Vidler enjoyed plenty of pace and bounce on the South African surfaces, and posed a constant threat to batters throughout the competition. He starred in wins over England and Sri Lanka before his efforts in the semis and final included prized wickets with the new ball.
Ubaid Shah was in scintillating form for Pakistan in the U19 Men’s CWC, spearheading their bowling attack and demonstrating lethal amounts of pace that produced vital wicket taking spells in his side’s wins over New Zealand (three for 30) and Bangladesh (five for 44) in their run to the semi-final.
Player of the Tournament Kwena Maphaka set the World Cup alight from day one. Searing pace and swing handed him his first of three five-wicket hauls in the dramatic win over West Indies on opening day, and the pacer never looked back, with stellar performances in wins over Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
Maphaka almost provided South Africa with another match-winning performance in the semi-final defeat against India, yet his pace, bounce and ability to take important wickets just saw the young Proteas fall short.
Maphaka ended the tournament with 21 wickets, leaving him at the summit of the wicket-taking charts.
Completing the lineup is India’s Saumy Pandey, whose left-arm spin threat yielded 18 wickets – the most by any spinner in the tournament. Twinned with a supreme ability to bowl economical spells, Pandey was inspirational in the early stages in Bloemfontein, highlighted by his performances in wins over Bangladesh (four for 24) and New Zealand (four for 19).
The twelfth player listed in the ICC Team of the Tournament is Scotland opening batter Jamie Dunk. So important in their journey to the World Cup through the Europe Qualifiers, Dunk adapted well to the World Cup environment, registering impressive half-centuries against West Indies (57), South Africa (90) and in the gripping play-off match against Namibia (76).
Dottin among nominees for ICC Women’s Player of the Month for October
West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin has been named among the three nominees for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for the month of October.
Dottin made her comeback for the national side at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, and was a driving force as the islanders reached their first semi-final at the event since 2018.
She was instrumental in victories over Scotland and Bangladesh, but saved her most valuable contributions for the latter stages, where she shone with the bat, ball and in the field in their group stage win over England, before producing a memorable individual display with 33 runs and four wickets in the thrilling semi-final defeat to eventual champions New Zealand.
Dottin will be going up against New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt for the award.
The nominees for the Men’s award are New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner, Pakistan’s Noman Ali and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada.
Kevin Sinclair replaced by Junior Sinclair in Harpy Eagles Super50 squad after internal report to GCB
All-rounder Kevin Sinclair will take no further part in the Guyana Harpy Eagles CG United Super50 Cup campaign in Trinidad and Tobago. The decision made by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) followed the submission of an internal report by the Harpy Eagles' management team that it was necessary to replace the player.
The GCB, in making the revelation, also announced that Kevin Sinclair will be replaced by Junior Sinclair in the squad at the tournament.
Though the GCB’s statement did not clarify if sub-standard performance is the reason behind Kevin Sinclair’s ejection from the squad, it pointed out that it was a “necessary squad adjustment.”
“Following an internal report from the Guyana Harpy Eagles management, it has been decided that Kevin Sinclair will no longer be participating in this year’s competition,” the statement read.
In the three matches played in the Super50 Cup, Kevin Sinclair tallied 14 runs and snared three wickets.
He made 14 from 16 balls against Windward Volcanoes and took 2-66 from 10 overs in the same match.
However, he did not bat in the rained-out contest against Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners and was dismissed without a score against Barbados Pride and only took 1-26 from 10 overs in that same match.
The Guyana Harpy Eagles are winless after three matches.
A similar situation arose last year during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament when organisers announced Kevin left the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad for “personal reasons.”
Kevin Sinclair’s departure opens the door for Junior Sinclair to take up a spot in the Harpy Eagles squad ahead of Tuesday’s contest against Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Guyana Harpy Eagles Squad: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Matthew Nandu, Tevin Imlach (captain), Kevlon Anderson, Kemol Savory, Junior Sinclair, Keemo Paul (vice-captain), Ronaldo Aimohamed, Veerasammy Permaul, Isai Thorne, Ashmead Nedd, Nial Smith, Sylus Tyndall, Rampertab Ramnauth.
Salt confirmed as England wicketkeeper despite Buttler return for West Indies T20Is
Phil Salt will be wicketkeeper in England’s upcoming T20I series against West Indies as white-ball captain Jos Buttler looks to improve his captaincy.
Buttler has been ruled out with a calf strain but will return to England's squad for the five-match T20I series that begins on Saturday.
Until now, Salt has kept in just 13 of his 59 England appearances across all formats but has taken up the mantle for the ongoing ODI series against West Indies.
Buttler, on the other hand, has donned the gloves in 106 of his 108 T20Is.
Salt, though, is enjoying his new role.
"It's not something I've done a lot for England recently, but I enjoy keeping. I feel like that's where I offer most to the side," Salt said, as reported by ESPN.
"We've not had a chat about anything going forward. I'm just glad to be doing it at the moment."
While Salt is not guaranteed the gloves after this series, he will find comfort in Buttler's intent to optimise his captaincy by experimenting with a role in the field.
"I was going to give up the gloves and commit to being at mid-off and see how that felt. If it will help me with my captaincy it is something I am open to," Buttler told Sky Sports in September after being ruled out of the T20 series against Australia.
England are tied 1-1 in their ODI series against the West Indies with the decider to be played on Wednesday.
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