The South African Under 19’s quest for a second U-19 world cup trophy.

A brief look at the SA U19 World Cup squad.

While a world cup remains an elusive dream for the Proteas, it remains something that the U-19 side can boast about having won. The Under 19 side won the U-19 World Cup back in 2014 when Ray Jennings was coach, and the side still searches for its second trophy. With the upcoming U-19 world cup being moved to South Africa, the South African side will fancy its chances on home soil even though things did not go as planned the last time. Even with the world cup being held on home soil, the side did not do very well. 

The South African Under 19’s quest for a second U-19 world cup trophy will resume again next year as they will be hosting the tournament again after it was moved from Sri Lanka. The 15^th edition of the tournament will see 15 teams jetting off to South Africa to join the tournament hosts to make up 16 teams that will be playing across 4 venues in South Africa. With the teams being divided into four groups, the Junior Proteas find themselves in what promises to be a tough group. They are in Group B alongside England, West Indies and Scotland.  

Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced the world cup squad a few days ago. When looking at the tour to Bangladesh and the questions that were presented by that tour, one can see there has been an attempt to answer the questions and to fill whatever gap the coaching staff may have picked up. However, it does seem there could be a few more questions that may need answering as far as the balance of the side. 

The Squad is as follows, David Teeger (captain, Lions), Esosa Aihevba (Lions), Juan James (Western Province), Martin Khumalo (Easterns), Kwena Maphaka (Lions), Dewan Marais (Easterns), Riley Norton (Boland), Nqobani Mokoena (KwaZulu-Natal Coastal), Romashan Pillay (KwaZula-Natal Coastal), Sipho Potsane (Lions), Lhuan-dre Pretorius (Lions), Richard Seletswane (Lions), Oliver Whitehead (Western Province), Steve Stolk (Titans), and Ntando Zuma (KwaZulu-Natal Inland).`

Looking at this squad and the squad that toured to Bangladesh, the faces are mostly the same, which makes sense considering how that squad performed against Bangladesh, away from home. The Bangladesh tour proved that the seam bowling department needed a bit of a boost and the selectors have given it exactly that. The pace attack of Kwena Maphaka, Martin Khumalo and Nqobani Mokoena really looks exciting and threatening. The two right arm pacers provide a lot of support for Kwena, and this could help him perform even better without the expectation of being the “messiah” as far as the bowling department is concerned. 

The inclusion of Esosa Aihevba is probably the surprise inclusion for me considering the fact that he was not among the non-travelling reserves for the tour to Bangladesh and was not particularly successful at the camp that the U19 had before the last 18 was chosen. However, this could be very well due to the fact that the world cup is in South Africa and the coaching staff wanted more seam bowling options. The selection of high flying - big hitting batsman, Steve Stolk, is very welcomed considering the firepower he brings to the team. Firepower is something that the team lacked in Bangladesh, especially in the middle to lower middle order so it will be interesting to see how Steve is used. Will he open the batting alongside Lhuan-dre Pretorius, or will he bat in the middle order as a finisher? If the YODI against Zimbabwe is anything to go by, Steve Stolk will partner Pretorius at the top. This is also not a bad thing but, the question of lack of firepower in the later part of the innings remains. 

At this level of the game, even teams that normally don’t do well in senior cricket tend to punch above their weight. The gap between teams is not as big as in senior cricket and for this reason, it is important that the U19 side hits the ground running and that the coaching staff gets the correct combination.

Going back to the Bangladesh tour, Eastern Province, Left arm spinner Esa Gangat bowled really well and with a lot of control. There was a game he and Sipho Potsane really bossed in the middle overs. Seeing Esa missing from the last 18 came as a shock to me because I thought he and Sipho would be the spin twins in the side alongside Juan James, who is pretty much an allrounder. It comes as an even bigger surprise that the selectors have gone for just one specialist spinner, Sipho Potsane. Yes, the world cup is being held in South Africa but, modern 50 over cricket is mostly won with spin. Spin plays a massive role when it comes to the middle overs and on pitches less responsive or flat. Perhaps the idea is that between Juan James, Sipho Potsane and the captain, David Teeger, they can get enough overs of spin.

Overall, this is a quality squad with loads of talent and there is no doubt that these young men will go out there and do the country proud. Based on the squad selected, this would be my XI. 

1. S. STOLK

2. L. PRETORIUS(WK)

3. D. TEEGER(C)

4. R. SELETSWANE

5. J. JAMES

6. N. ZUMA

7. D. MARAIS

8. N. MOKOENA

9. K. MAPHAKA

10. M. KHUMALO

11. S. POTSANE

The current top four is hard to fiddle with considering how well it has performed. Someone like Romashan Pillay, who is a quality batter would probably sit out for me because I feel he has been used more as a bowler, but he is more of a batter. His lack of pace has really come in handy in a lot of matches but, I would rather have batters who, when required to have a go at it very early, will be able to. I believe Rom is more of a top 4/5 batter who is not necessarily a big hitter.

With this squad, the team can easily go as far as winning the tournament. Dare I say! It will depend on whether or not the coach gets his combination right and whether he is able to get the best out of this young man. 

Ntandoyenkosi Zuma is currently not a guaranteed starter but, one has to admire his fighting spirit and will to succeed. When the team toured to Bangladesh, he made the squad as a non-travelling reserve, and he seems to have understood what was required of him to make the World Cup side. He did exactly that and forced his way into the world cup side. A flamboyant right-handed batter, very entertaining and a quality gloveman. 

Ntando is my SA player to look out for. 

Disclaimer – I have ignored the obvious candidates for player to look out for.