*Official* Under-19 World Cup 2009/10

[NasserFan207]

Its like watching a young Joel Garner. Slower, yes, but similar.

 

[Briony]

So Pakistan into the final after beating the Windies.

The SA team absolutely thumped NZ, Hendriks made an unbeaten ton.

And India beat England quite easily.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Windies totally killed themselves, it was 48 for 4 and they had Pakistan in serious trouble, but that fast bowler Gordan had an absolute nightmare and the spinners didn't offer any danger whatsoever, basically the whole bowling attack was on Holder's shoulders, he gave us a brilliant start but it was always gonna be tough for him to win us the game again like he did against England, it would have been good for the lads to get to the final but the main objective is to get kids through to the senior side and there's no question in Brathwaite, Holder and Dowrich we've got three who will be playing for the Windies in the very near future imo.

 

[Athlai]

Well done Jimmy Neesham top batting throughout the tournament.

 

[Howsie]

Probably would have liked to have gone on with a few of his starts. He did have the best strike-rate when I last checked in the entire tournament though

 

[Blakey]

Holly hitters - NZ got massacred!

Yes will be interesting to hear Jimmy's pov surrounding his typical NZ style, getting starts but not going on with them innings.

Also, with a number of lads performing well, I wouldn't get too excited about a raft of them making the step up to the men's side. Not a huge proportion of these players 'make it'. Talking mainly about the WI fans.

 

[thierry henry]

Jimmy finally got an over I see

 

[Beamer]

Holly hitters - NZ got massacred!

Yes will be interesting to hear Jimmy's pov surrounding his typical NZ style, getting starts but not going on with them innings.

Also, with a number of lads performing well, I wouldn't get too excited about a raft of them making the step up to the men's side. Not a huge proportion of these players 'make it'. Talking mainly about the WI fans.

I agree completely and I look at far more than their performance at this World Cup. For example, 17 year old Kraigg Braithwaite has dominated every level he has played and looked a class above every other batsman in the side. He will be playing test cricket within 2 years. Being the best batsman in this tournament is no fluke for him, he did the same at Under 15 level and has started well at FC level too.

I guess Dowrich and Holder are more open to question but the odds are good. Holder has the gift of height that West Indies are so desperate for and Dowrich is clearly a very talented keeper/batsman, a position within our cricket that is open to much debate.

Unfortunately I didn't see anything else from this years group to really take notice of, though Creary is clearly still a solid young batsman.

 

[Faisal1985]

You have got to give it to Hammad, he played a gem of an innings......

 

[Beamer]

You have got to give it to Hammad, he played a gem of an innings......

He is so calm under pressure for such an inexperienced player. That is the type of temperament that will make it in international cricket let alone Under 19.

 

[WindieWeathers]

He is so calm under pressure for such an inexperienced player. That is the type of temperament that will make it in international cricket let alone Under 19.

To be honest he was facing some terrible bowlers, the spinners didn't have a clue and Gordon was so bad it was ridiculous, in one over he probably lost his team the game when he was hit for around 14 runs, if he wasn't bowling wides he was getting hit for fours, if Hamed had faced Holder early then i don't think he would have lasted long, none of their batsmen could cope with the big man.

 

[WindieWeathers]

I agree completely and I look at far more than their performance at this World Cup. For example, 17 year old Kraigg Braithwaite has dominated every level he has played and looked a class above every other batsman in the side. He will be playing test cricket within 2 years. Being the best batsman in this tournament is no fluke for him, he did the same at Under 15 level and has started well at FC level too.

I guess Dowrich and Holder are more open to question but the odds are good. Holder has the gift of height that West Indies are so desperate for and Dowrich is clearly a very talented keeper/batsman, a position within our cricket that is open to much debate.

Unfortunately I didn't see anything else from this years group to really take notice of, though Creary is clearly still a solid young batsman.

Creary looks like another Marshall to me, he's got the shots but whether he's got the mentality is another thing, he's already 19 and when you compare him to Barath who is also 19 it's night and day, and i agree there wasn't much else to look at from the side apart from those three (Brathwaite, Holder and Dowrich) , but can any other side say they've got three potentially world class players in their youth set up? i'm not sure, and it's great that it's in three different positions too, it's a shame Jomal Warrican didn't play because he took three wickets from Pakistan in the group match and i would have liked to have seen him play.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Marshall a better batsman than Creary I'd say, and he was at 19 as well. Creary looks a bit average and would have to improve a whole lot to be a FC success, let alone a Test match cricketer. Obvious Braithwaite looks a brilliant talent, both in ability and temperament, and Dowrich looks plucky as ever. A shame that they've missed most of the FC season.

Holder looks a serious bowler. I'm very excited by the look of him. Hopefully he can do like Roach and add some more pace and strength to his game over the next couple of years.

 

[Beamer]

Marshall a better batsman than Creary I'd say, and he was at 19 as well. Creary looks a bit average and would have to improve a whole lot to be a FC success, let alone a Test match cricketer. Obvious Braithwaite looks a brilliant talent, both in ability and temperament, and Dowrich looks plucky as ever. A shame that they've missed most of the FC season.

Holder looks a serious bowler. I'm very excited by the look of him. Hopefully he can do like Roach and add some more pace and strength to his game over the next couple of years.

I would send all 3 of them on the upcoming A team tours to give them some much needed experience.

I honestly can't wait to see Barath and Brathwaite batting together at the same time.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

The future of West Indies batting department does look quite bright at the moment. A fairly settled lineup of:

Gayle
Barath - hopefully settles
Sarwan
Chanderpaul
Bravo
Nash
Ramdin - hopefully kicks on with his current form

And then the likes of Deonarine, Dowlin (against the odds) and Simmons around. And now Braithwaite and Dowrich look good. I'm really hoping for Chandrika (Guyana) to do well too, because he does look a good talent.

The fast bowling department is much more of a worry though. Rampaul looks increasingly unfit and taking big steps backward. After him there's Baker, Pascal and Tonge. None of them look likely to be Test class for a long time yet, if ever. There's a lot of hope for spin though, with Miller, Imran Khan, Odean Brown, Bishoo and Jaggernauth all around looking for an opportunity. Probably missing one or two too.

 

[Beamer]

Yep pace is going to be a problem. Nelson Bolan looked decent without being exciting and Nicholson Gordon looked dreadful as WindieWeathers said. In fact we desperately need Holder to come through.

I would have liked to have seen Keon Joseph in action as at least he has natural speed on his side, but unfortunately he has been too wayward.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Btw I left Bennett out of the pace reckoning because I fear he may be getting past it, and I don't see him being selected anytime soon unfortunately. Aside from him there's Kevin McLean only, as far as I can tell. It really does highlight how important the U-19 team is for West Indies. If the talent doesn't come strongly through at that level, the odds of a decent developmental path is unlikely. I presume it's similar in all countries, but the West Indies system is so (poor/)weak and the team is so lacking talent, it's probably a bigger issue.

Oh, and I just remembered Da Bravo and Kieron Pollard as far as potential batting talent for the future. Both of whom came through U-19 cricket strongly.

 

[Beamer]

Neither of us mentioned Brandon Bess the tall Guyanese fast bowler. He is up there with Roach in terms of pace but he has been too wayward in his short career so far.

He is getting slightly better figures this year and lets hope that continues.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

From what I've seen of him he's neither been that quick nor that impressive in general. Surely he's not actually as quick as Roach. My eyes must've been deceiving me.

 

[Beamer]

Well against England at St Kitts (in the match where Simmons got 280) he was seriously quick but also seriously wayward.

When he gets it right it's impressive but more often than not he sprays it about. Maybe you caught him on a bad day even by his standards