U19 World Cup teams and players eye tournament records

A raft of up-and-coming young cricketers, eager to announce their arrival with a bang, will set their sights on some ICC U19 Cricket World Cup records.

The 10th edition of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup (ICC U19 CWC) will be staged in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 14 February to 1 March 2014. For some of the best budding cricketers from across the world that will take part in it, this will be a fantastic opportunity to prove themselves by entering the history books and helping their teams do so.

The record for most ICC U19 CWC titles is jointly held by Australia and India, which have won three titles each. India won the trophy in 2000, 2008 and 2012, while Australia was the champion in 1988, 2002 and 2010.

Pakistan is the only nation to have won back-to-back titles, having triumphed in 2004 and 2006. England is the only other team to have won the competition (in 1998), so for all other sides in the fray, this will be an opportunity to snare a historic first title.

From the teams taking part in the ICC U19 CWC UAE 2014, Australia is the most successful one in the competition overall. With a win-percentage of 79.66 after nine editions, it has traditionally been one of the teams to beat.

Below is a table of the 10 most successful teams at the event, sorted in descending order of win-percentage (includes both Super League and Plate Championship matches):

As the table shows, Australia also holds the record for the most ICC U19 CWC matches played (61), followed by India and the West Indies (59 each), England and Pakistan (57 each) and Sri Lanka (56).

The ICC U19 CWC, which has been a 50-over tournament from its inception in 1988, has seen quite a few big totals of more than 350 being posted. The highest total since 2004, though, has been South Africa’s 359-6 versus Namibia in Brisbane in the last edition. No other total since 2004 figures in the list of the 10 highest totals, as illustrated in the table below:

Batsmen looking to become the most prolific in the history of the tournament, however, face a tall order in getting past the tally of Ireland’s Eoin Morgan. He went on to replicate his efforts with England at the senior level, starring in its ICC World Twenty20 2010 title-triumph. Morgan is at the top of the pile in the list of the tournament’s 10 highest run-scorers.

Dhawan holds the record for the most runs scored in a single edition (505 in 2004) and the highest average in a single edition for those that have scored a minimum of 500 runs. With flat pitches expected for this edition in the UAE, quite a few stroke-players should set their sights on those marks later this month.

Another list that illustrates how young batsmen are finding it harder to score big runs now than they did 10 years ago is the one of the highest individual scores at the ICC U19 CWC.

With bowlers seemingly having more of an upper hand in the last four editions than they did in the five before those, it comes as no surprise that seven of the 10 highest wicket-takers plied their trade between 2006 and 2012, in this event.

The trend is also reflected in six of the best 10 match figures coming in the last three editions.

For the stumpers taking part in this edition, one way of gaining due recognition for an otherwise thankless job would be by breaking some wicketkeeping records.

The record for most dismissals in an ICC U19 CWC innings belongs to Charith Sylvester Fernando of Sri Lanka. He dismissed eight Zimbabwe batsmen (caught four, stumped four) in Christchurch in 2002.

A couple of others follow Fernando in that list, having sent back six batsmen in an innings. Darren Berry of Australia managed that feat (having caught all six) against England in Renmark in 1988. William Perkins of the West Indies emulated him in 2006, recording six dismissals (four caught, two stumped) against Australia in Colombo in 2006.

All three wicketkeepers mentioned above feature prominently in the list of those with the most dismissals overall in this competition.

For those without the gloves, the record for most ICC U19 CWC catches overall belongs to Narsingh Deonarine of the West Indies, who took 12 from 13 matches over the 2000 and 2002 editions.

Six players jointly hold the record for four catches in an innings – Robert Samuels and Dwayne Bravo of the West Indies, Brendon McCullum of New Zealand, Alex Loudon of England, Prince Masvaure of Zimbabwe and Baba Aparajith of India.

Finally, there is one record that is most likely to stay with an Associate or Affiliate country, since the rules have been relaxed for those categorised thus – the record for most ICC U19 CWC appearances.

Associate and Affiliate nations are allowed to field players up to the age of 21, subject to their being born before a certain cut-off date. And that means many of their players have played and can play in three editions and therefore in more matches - a luxury that most players from Full Member nations do not enjoy. The table below illustrates this.

The following releases will go out later this week:

3 Feb – Umpire and match referee appointments

**5 Feb –**Group A and Group B captains share their excitement, expectations and approach

6 Feb – Group C and Group D captains discuss their preparations and build-up to the event

7 Feb – Form guide – how the participating teams have fared in the tournaments prior to this, who have been their star performers and how they’ve trained specifically for this edition

The releases will be available here as well as in the Online Media Zone.