ESPNcricinfo presents the team of the tournament for the 2014 Under-19 World Cup

Kanishkaa Balachandran03-Mar-2014Aiden Markram (capt) (South Africa) (370 runs @ 123.33)
The South Africa captain finished third in the run-scoring charts and was the only batsman to hit more than one century. The World Cup could be the making of Markram for his patience and maturity at the crease and his leadership won the praise of his coach Ray Jennings. Markram wasn’t expecting to be picked before the World Cup but Jennings backed him and was named captain as well. Calmly steered South Africa’s chase of 132 in the final.Imam-ul-Haq (Pakistan) (382 runs @ 63.66)
The nephew of Inzamam-ul-Haq was one half of a successful opening partnership with his captain Sami Aslam. Imam made scores of 88, 133 and 82 in three consecutive games. His aggressive strokeplay caught the eye. Unfortunately, a hamstring injury affected his batting in the semi-final and he couldn’t score much in the final. Still, he ended the tournament as the second highest run-getter.Shadman Islam (Bangladesh) (406 runs @ 101.50)
The tournament’s leading run-scorer, Shadman’s performances went under the radar as Bangladesh’s matches weren’t televised. He began the tournament with a century against Afghanistan and followed it up with 49 against Australia. His 97 against New Zealand helped Bangladesh win the Plate Championship.Ben Duckett (England) (266 runs @ 66.50)
England’s best batsman of the tournament. Duckett was instrumental in knocking India out in the quarter-final with his handling of their spinners. Duckett’s fondness for the conventional and reverse sweeps likened him to Eoin Morgan. He also scored a century in a tense chase against Australia, giving England third-place honours.Nicolas Pooran (wk) (West Indies) (303 runs @ 60.60)
The Trinidad left-hander smashed 143 in trying circumstances against Australia, making it the innings of the tournament. West Indies were floundering at 70 for 8 in the quarter-final, but Pooran expertly batted with the tail and powered six sixes over the long boundaries in Dubai. He was one of the cleanest strikers of the ball in the competition.Yaseen Valli (South Africa) (240 runs @ 80, 11 wickets @ 10.81)
The South African batting allrounder impressed with his ability to bat in a crisis and rescued South Africa with a fifty against West Indies. He followed it up with a century against Canada and a fifty against Zimbabwe. Capable of playing innovative strokes towards the end of an innings and as a useful left-arm spinner, he fits in well as the second spinner of the team.Sarfaraz Khan (India) (211 runs @ 70.33)
The animated and chirpy 17-year-old from Mumbai was one of India’s go-to men when the chips were down. Batting in the lower middle order, Sarfaraz showed maturity in batting under pressure and bailed India out of trouble against Pakistan and Scotland, after they were 22 for 5 chasing 89. His innings against Pakistan proved he was an adept finisher.Kuldeep Yadav (India) (14 wickets @ 16.42)
Kuldeep Yadav took the only hat-trick of the tournament, and ended with 14 wickets•ICCThe chinaman bowler adds variety to any attack, and he took the tournament’s only hat-trick, against Scotland. The hat-trick ball was one of the best of the tournament, as he fetched the wicket using flight and turn. He will be one to watch out for once he makes his senior-team debut for his state.Justin Dill (South Africa) (12 wickets @ 12.50)
One of the more understated bowlers in the competition, the right-arm seamer bowled probing spells and it was his accuracy that fetched him wickets in the final. He also took four-wicket hauls against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.Matthew Fisher (England) (10 wickets @ 19.70)
The 16-year-old impressed with his pace and swing and was England’s best bowler. Fisher saved his best performances against bigger sides like India and Pakistan. His early spell jolted India’s top order in Dubai, with his delivery to Sanju Samson being one of his best. Fisher bowled a tight spell in the semi-final against Pakistan, taking 2 for 21 off 10.Kagiso Rabada (South Africa) (14 wickets @ 10.28)
Rabada was the fastest and most feared bowler in the competition, the second-highest wicket taker, and the one with the best match figures of 6 for 25. Rabada touched speeds in excess of 85 mph and said he is capable of hitting 90 in pitches back home. He used the short ball to bounce out the top orders of West Indies and Australia.

With Alastair Cook isolated and the deficiencies in his captaincy laid bare, the suggestion that English cricket is at a low point continues to gain credence

George Dobell at Headingley23-Jun-2014Might this count as a low ebb?After the Ashes defeat in Australia, the ECB chairman, Giles Clarke, said it was “utter nonsense” to claim that England were at “some sort of massive low ebb”.Since then, though, little has gone right for England. They were embarrassed in the World T20 by Holland, they lost the ODI series (and the T20 match) against Sri Lanka and their new managing director, Paul Downton, has sometimes looked so out of his depth that it is hard to resist the temptation to throw him a pair of armbands.And, as their bowlers were thrashed around Leeds by Sri Lanka’s eighth-wicket pair, as their captain’s grim run of form continued, as they allowed a game they had every chance to dominate slip away in front of a ‘crowd’ so small it should probably be called a ‘sparse’ and as their batsmen displayed the resilience of a papadam – Liam Plunkett’s dismissal might be remembered as the worst shot by a nightwatchman in the history of Test cricket – it was hard to avoid any other conclusion than England had slipped not just to a low ebb, but to basement flat below one.Ian Bell’s dismissal was another example of senior players failing to help out Alastair Cook in England’s time of need•Getty ImagesEngland have already gone seven Tests without a victory. But even if they do produce a miracle and prevail on the final day (and they might as well pray that a plague of unicorns prevents play), even if they pull off the largest successful fourth-innings run chase in their history, it should not obscure the deficiencies that have hurt them. And it should not obscure the deficiencies in the leadership of Alastair Cook.It is not just the poor batting form or the uninspiring tactics that provoke such concerns. Yes, we know that he has now gone 24 innings without a Test century and that, since July 2013, he averages in the mid-20s. And we know that, as a tactician, he is more mouse than Strauss; more phoney than Dhoni. The decision to set spread fields in the opening overs of the day simply allowed Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews to settle in.But we also know his long-term batting record is excellent and, given time, he should come again. And we know that, when he is batting well, he has the ability to unite his team and lead them to fine victories such as a series wins in India and an Ashes win at home. There are different ways to lead and Cook is not as hopeless as some would suggest.The real concern is his inability to raise his team when required. Frustrated by his ineloquence, he appears unable to find the stirring phrases to rouse and renew in times of trouble. He is the type of captain who leads by example. And his current example is mediocrity.More than that, though, he was the captain backed by the ECB when it was decided to drop Kevin Pietersen. He was the captain either unwilling or unable to accommodate the highest run-scorer in England’s international history and, as a result, he has weakened his side and shouldered an unnecessary burden.Any suggestion that he was unaffected by the relentless negativity towards him from high-profile critics such as Shane Warne and Piers Morgan was dashed when Cook snapped back the day before this match. It has clearly been on his mind.But if Cook must take his share of responsibility for England’s performance, a few of his senior players also need to reflect on the support they have offered him. Matt Prior has looked unrecognisable from the keeper who proved so reliable up until the end of 2013 and, in this match, has flapped like a seal and dropped like a stone.

For Sri Lanka to come in early summer and secure their first series win is a damning indictment of England’s new era

James Anderson, impeccable for so long, bowled horribly short and wide in being out-performed by Dhammika Prasad. His first over with the second new ball did not demand a single stroke; his second was little better. Ian Bell was beaten through the gate, back when he should have been forward, while Stuart Broad was unable to summon any of the menace gained by his Sri Lanka counterparts. In an inexperienced side, these are the men who have to support Cook. On Monday, at least, they let Cook down. All those burned by the Ashes thrashing fell away under pressure.What England cannot – must not – do is blame bad luck.If you win the toss and decide to bowl first, you cannot complain if you end up batting fourth against a turning ball.If you waste your two reviews on speculative lbw shouts – one where the ball was clearly going down the leg side – you cannot complain when an umpire misses a blatant outside edge off Shaminda Eranga before he has scored and there are no reviews remaining.If you waste the new ball and squander more than half-a-dozen chances in the field, you cannot complain when Test batsmen punish you.If you pass your opposition’s score with only two wickets down but then lose 7 for 54, you cannot complain when the opposition fight their way back into the game.And if you bowl your overs so slowly that you run out of time when the opposition are nine wickets down, you cannot complain when they hold on for a draw.Sri Lanka have played well in this series, but England have been, to a large extent, the architects of their downfall.There is, as ever, mitigation. This is an England side containing several inexperienced players; there were bound to be days like this as they learned their trade. Equally, in a two-match series, the effects of one poor day can be magnified. England have not been this bad for the other eight days. But overseas victories are hard to come by for any side and for Sri Lanka to come to the UK in early summer and secure their first series win, is not just a reward for fine cricket, but a damning indictment of England’s new era.

Bangladesh’s fans’ love seems unconditional. Despair is always quickly shelved to give their ‘Tigers’ all support their can muster. The question is, can the team show they deserve that adoring public?

Abhishek Purohit in Mirpur31-Mar-2014This has been the routine during each Bangladesh match in the World T20 in Mirpur: people start assembling on the roads outside the Shere Bangla Stadium hours before the game. Several of them do not have a ticket, they have no hope of getting in, but they just stand there patiently, on the pavement, on the road divider.Those who get in shout “Bangladesh, Bangladesh” in unison as soon as they get the first glimpse of their “Tigers” running onto the field. It is a long word – Bangladesh. You need to say it with intensity and fervour to get it all out in one, powerful shout. The crowd is never lacking in both.Then the names of the Bangladesh players are announced, slowly, one by one, giving the crowd enough time to react to each one. The big stars – Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim – get the loudest cheers. ‘Cheer’ is actually an understatement. These are full-blooded, deep-throated roars. You have to have unshakeable faith in something down to your deepest core to be able to let out this roar.To the outsider, it is like someone has stuck you, without warning, with a high-dose injection of adrenaline. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain in words how they sound. It is also difficult to find a parallel elsewhere. Cricketers are widely adored in India and Pakistan too. But this feels different. These roars are like blank cheques with lifetime validity. Signed by the fans, for the players. Maybe the combination of Eden Gardens and Sourav Ganguly comes close. Maybe it is a Bengali thing.The match starts. Bangladesh threaten to make it a contest for the first couple of overs or so. Tamim Iqbal thumps a boundary. The crowd is delirious. He gets out. Deafening delirium turns into deafening silence, but only momentarily. Shakib has to be welcomed to the middle, and again, no effort is spared in making him know how loved he is. Shakib is soon bowled. The same pattern is repeated. It is the captain who has to be ushered in with a verbal shower of rose petals this time. Mushfiqur smacks a few boundaries. If there exists a state beyond delirium, the stadium has reached it after these blows. Then even Mushfiqur falls, bringing back that momentary disappointment.This state of delirium is a constant, parallel narrative at every Bangladesh match. It only pauses very briefly to register the fall of a Bangladesh wicket, or an opposition boundary. It ends with their defeat, and it resumes just before the start of their next match. It plays out in loop. Delirium. Pause. Delirium. Pause. Delirium. Defeat. Repeat.Love is blind, they say. They must have had Bangladesh cricket fans in mind when they said it. In fact, this love goes further than mere blindness. It is only one side that is being blind to the other’s faults here. For how much this love takes out of Bangladesh fans – time, money, emotion, their voices, with so much cheering – what they get in return can charitably be only called crumbs.You are the host team of a world tournament. This is your home. These are your conditions. You have grown up playing on these grounds. Yet, your captain says early into the main round of the tournament that his team has nothing to lose. This is what Mushfiqur had said during the previous World T20 too, which was also played on the subcontinent. He also added this time that Bangladesh’s major aim would be to compete with other teams in their group. Imagine MS Dhoni saying this at the start of the 2011 World Cup. Nothing to lose. Compete, as opposed to win. If you can imagine the impossible, now imagine the reaction of Indian fans.Bangladesh cricketers are an incalculably fortunate lot to be blessed by such a loyal following. It is incredible that your three biggest stars can make 5, 6 and 16, 0, 1 and 38, and 22, 24 and 2 in a global tournament at home, and the fans’ affection for them does not even as much as wobble. That you can lose three successive T20s in a world tournament by the heavy margins of 73 runs, eight wickets and 50 runs, and the fans’ affection for the team does not even as much as wobble.For once, can Bangladesh actually play like they have nothing to lose in this World T20? Can they actually compete? They have one final opportunity, against Australia. It won’t make their relationship with their fans any less one-sided, but it will be some sort of a surprise parting gift for the Bangladesh cheering party that will doubtless, and regardless, happen in the Mirpur stands.

As Angelo Mathews and Misbah-ul-Haq look across their battlements in Sri Lanka, they may meet each other’s gaze, and know they are a lot alike

Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Aug-2014Sometimes in the cosmic journey, life contrives for kindred souls to cross paths: two people who may be separated geographically, ethnically, economically, even politically, but who are one at the most elemental, human level.As Angelo Mathews and Misbah-ul-Haq look across their battlements in Sri Lanka, they may meet each other’s gaze, and know they are a lot alike.The last time the two met in Tests, they could not have had more disparate days. Defending a 1-0 series lead, Mathews embraced an extreme form of conservatism and his team drowned in it on the final day in Sharjah. With no choice but to launch an unrelenting attack, Misbah kept his side in the match long enough, until after a whirl of bludgeoned drives and reverse-sweeps from way outside leg stump, he hit the winning run to complete a frenetic victory.Pakistan have been dormant in Tests since that day, but Mathews has had a busy six months, in which both he and his leadership have grown up, and grown old – grown a little more like Misbah. Now, when Mathews speaks or acts, he is defined by a sense of unshakeable calm. A lot has happened to him in the recent past, with a series win in England and loss at home against South Africa, but a short time after coming off the field, Mathews was no more delighted at Headingley than he was distraught at the SSC. Misbah is past 40 now. Though at times he still bats like he is 25, there is a timeless stoicism to everything in his every move. His words are delivered in grey baritone.Neither captain is an exemplary tactician, but both are natural leaders in other ways. Misbah’s batting average is almost 28 runs better when he is captain. In 11 Tests at the helm, Mathews has statistically been more than twice as good as he was before. They have each inherited a legacy of instability, with captains coming, going and occasionally coming again in the few years before they each took the helm. But since Misbah has had the reins, Pakistan’s road has been less rocky. Sri Lanka had been energetic and instinctive under Mahela Jayawardene, but since Mathews has helmed them, his iron resolve has seeped into his team’s cricket as well.There is no doubt who is the more talented cricketer. Misbah is routinely secure and imposing when he wishes to be. But in 2014, Mathews has been a complete batsman, on every kind of surface, in any situation. They both make dour beginnings; that first impulse is always “safety first”. But they are also equipped with the skill, and the will to quickly gather pace. For Misbah, the big blows often come suddenly, on the leg side, in the arc between wide long-on and square leg. Mathews, increasingly, just clobbers them where he likes.Neither are ungainly batsmen, but no one could ever mistake them for artists either. They are too sensible to fuss with aesthetics. Both hail from cricket cultures that celebrate flamboyance – more true for Misbah, perhaps, than for Mathews – but they leave the pretty stuff to their team-mates and take the utilitarian road themselves. Misbah is wise enough to know aggression is critical to the cricket some batsmen play, but Mathews is still learning that others cannot absorb pressure as passively as he can. “We threw away our wickets” is a common complaint. Rarely is Mathews among the “we” in that sentence. So many times he has been like the band that plays a sombre tune while the ship sinks in a panic around him. No one knows that feeling better than Misbah.There is also no doubt who has the tougher assignment. Eighteen months into his captaincy, Mathews has seen the entire spectrum of administrative bungling, from two contracts standoffs to seniors’ tussles with the made-men at Maitland Place. But beyond the spectre of match-fixing that Misbah has worked to leave behind, the board he reports to is in so much disarray, SLC seems like a Sunday afternoon book club in comparison. Every person Misbah meets could be PCB chairman in 20 minutes’ time. Or the next Test-match opener.Grim-faced and unflappable, it is also sometimes easy to cast Misbah as a sort of tragic hero. He is all the more likeable because of it. If the young players in Sri Lanka’s middle order continue to show they are poor replacements for the seniors about to bow out of the game, Mathews may well become a tragic hero himself, in years to come. He is perhaps the luckier of the two because if he carries himself with the grace and dignity Misbah manages, he is not likely to be accused of being too square, as Misbah often is.Their teams arrive in Galle, evenly matched and familiar with each other’s talents and points of weakness. Steady, courageous and possessed of a slow-burning charisma, the cricket Mathews and Misbah play over the next few weeks will be intriguing, not just for choices they make, but for the moves they elicit from one another.

Bizarre numbers, massive mismatches and a dose of trivia from the Asian Games 2014

Bishen Jeswant03-Oct-20140 Number of matches* that Kuwait men’s team won to qualify for the quarter-finals of this Asian Games. They lost to Nepal and had their game against Maldives washed out. However, they were awarded the match based on a coin-toss.6 Number of top-eight Sri Lanka batsmen who were dismissed for single figures in their Asian Games quarter-final against South Korea at the Yeonhui Cricket Ground. South Korea join Australia, South Africa and New Zealand as the only teams to have inflicted this fate on Sri Lanka.58 The age of Bastaki Mahmoud, the Kuwait cricket team’s captain at this Asian Games. His son, Bastaki Fahad, 23, is the vice-captain of the team. In Kuwait’s quarter-final against Bangladesh, they came together to dismiss Tamim Iqbal, who pulled a waist-high full toss delivered by son Fahad straight to father Mahmoud at square leg.20 The score for which Kuwait were bowled out against Nepal. They went exactly one better in the quarter-final against Bangladesh, where they scored 21. No Kuwait batsman reached double figures in either game. Kuwait lost the quarter-final by 203 runs. The biggest margin of victory in an official T20 is 172 – Sri Lanka v Kenya in the 2007 World T20.4 Number of consecutive wickets that China’s Zhong Wenyi took in as many balls, in their Group A match against South Korea. Wenyi took a wicket off the last ball of the eighth over and wickets of the first three balls of the tenth over. The only bowlers to take four wickets in four balls in official T20 cricket are Andre Russell and Al-Amin Hossain.

Baseball stances, and more coin-tosses

• The manner in which the tournament was structured meant Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the two top-ranked teams in the tournament, could not have faced off in the final. Both teams received a ‘bye’, and were straight through to the quarter-finals. The fixtures were such that they were slotted to meet each other in the semis if they won their respective quarter-final games, which they did. That semi-final was marred by rain, but Sri Lanka progressed to the final based on another coin-toss.
• Some of South Korea’s batsmen shaped up to face the bowling with a baseball-style stance, having their bats raised over their shoulders. This was not just a coincidence because, according to the , as many as seven of the 11 men that played – and lost – the opening match against Malaysia were baseball players – baseball is a passion in Korea, which won the gold medal in the event at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The cricket team was assembled especially for the Asian Games less than two years previously, with some of the players taking to the sport just six months before the games.

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