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).
Stokes returns as England include uncapped duo in squad for Pakistan tour
England captain Ben Stokes is back in the squad for their tour of Pakistan in October, with uncapped duo Brydon Carse and Jordan Cox both included.
Stokes missed England's 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka this month with a hamstring injury and is continuing his recovery, as is opener Zak Crawley, who is also back after missing it with a broken finger.
Durham fast bowler Carse has made 14 ODI appearances and played three T20Is for England, while Essex batter Cox is expected to make his T20I debut against Australia on Wednesday.
Spinners Rehan Ahmed and Jack Leach, who has not played since January, are recalled, having also played in the 3-0 Test series away to Pakistan in 2022.
Seamer Josh Hull is included in the squad for his first senior tour after making his Test debut at The Oval.
Dan Lawrence, who was given the opportunity to open in Crawley's absence, struggled to make an impact and registered a highest score of just 35 in six innings, with that coming in England’s final Test, which they lost on Monday.
England's tour of Pakistan begins with the first Test on October 7.
England squad for Pakistan tour: Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.
De Silva lauds Sri Lanka's bowlers in 'special' England victory
Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva labelled his side's triumph over England as "special" following their eight-wicket win in the final Test at The Oval.
Pathum Nissanka's unbeaten century led the tourists to victory, having started day four needing just 125 runs with nine wickets in hand.
Despite the loss of Kusal Mendis (39), Sri Lanka were able to halt their seven-match losing streak in Tests against England, claiming their first win against them since June 2014.
Nissanka's unbeaten 127 from 124 deliveries also made him only the fourth batter to log a strike rate of more than 100 when scoring a ton in men's Tests.
De Silva hailed Sri Lanka's resilience in claiming the deserved victory, believing his opening batsman is the best in the business for the Lions.
"It is very special, winning in England. The boys were tough enough to handle the pressure and get into some scenarios," De Silva told BBC Sport.
"It is not comfortable. There was hard work put in by the bowlers and batters. We were there in every match - had positive points. The boys wanted to win in the end.
"Credit to all of the bowlers. They have been on target from ball one. In the second innings, they were spot on.
"He [Nissanka] was in form the last couple of years and doing well in white-ball format. He has proved he is the best opener in Sri Lanka right now."
Kamindu Mendis, who struck 113 from 183 deliveries in the Lions' five-wicket defeat in the first Test, was handed Sri Lanka's Player of the Series after the triumph.
Mendis was consistent with the bat throughout the series, scoring 267 runs across the five innings he was in at the crease.
"It's a good win in these conditions. We did really well, especially the seamers and the batters did really well today," Mendis said.
"In these conditions, you have to face very difficult situations but I just wanted to enjoy it. That's it.
"I just made small changes, not big ones. It's a big deal but you have to be confident in your ability and enjoy your game.
"It's always a challenge facing seamers in England."
Sri Lanka's attentions will now turn to a two-match Test series on home soil against New Zealand, starting on September 18 at the Galle International Stadium.
'Coldplay can't be number one every week' – Root confident in England's approach
England have much to be positive about despite losing the final Test of their three-match series against Sri Lanka.
That is the view of Joe Root, who was named England's Player of the Series.
England were firmly second best as they lost by eight wickets at The Oval in the third Test, with Sri Lanka picking up just their fourth win in the longest format on English soil.
Yet after winning the first two Tests, and their three matches against West Indies earlier in the summer, England have plenty to be happy with, so says Root, who used a musical comparison to emphasise his point.
"Not so much this week, but it has been a good summer," Root told BBC Sport.
"We have played some really good cricket along the way. We have had new faces come into the team and some really exciting prospects off the back of that. We are constantly learning and evolving as a group, and it is nice to contribute to that.
"I don't think we played our best cricket this week and that is going to happen from time to time. Coldplay can't be number one every week.
"My point being is we are always trying to move the game forward. We wanted to keep our catchers in and as batters want to find ways of putting the opposition under pressure.
"We are not always going to get it right all of the time. For 90% of the summer we have. We have shown what a good team we can be when we play in that matter.
"It is important we are authentic to what we are as a team and what brings out the best in our individual players."
Root plundered 375 runs across six innings in the series, including two hundreds in the second Test.
However, only scoring 25 in the third Test means he is 14 runs short of 1,000 for 2024.
He will likely get the chance to surpass that milestone, and equal Alastair Cook as the only other English player to score 1,000+ runs in five calendar years, when England tour Pakistan in October.
"You can laud it when it comes off," Root continued on England's approach. "When it doesn't always come off it might not look like traditional dismissals, but [Pathum] Nissanka was hitting over mid-on and mid-off last night.
"When you are 127 not out you can look back and say what a brilliant innings it was. He was brave enough to take the challenge on and that is what we pride ourselves on as well - how can you knock bowlers off a length, how can you make it difficult for them to build pressure on you.
"Some of our guys have a different method to how I would do it and that is what makes us such a good team when we are at our best, because we compliment each other really well and find a different way of getting teams to bowl away from where the danger is.
"Over the last couple of years, that is what has made us have the success we have had."
England's focus now switches to an ODI series against Australia, with bowler Gus Atkinson having been rested after sustaining an injury at The Oval.
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