For Yorkshire’s strapping fast-bowling talent Matthew Fisher, leading the England Under-19s in a one-day series in Mumbai over the next few weeks will stir memories of one of the most satisfying days of his young career.
Fisher, who will be returning to international Under-19s cricket for the first time in more than two years, was only 16 when he made a key contribution to a famous England win against a highly-fancied India team in Dubai in the quarter finals of the 2014 ICC Under-19 World Cup.
He took three early wickets as the Indians slumped to 24 for four with his victims including Sanju Samson, who had already played IPL cricket and has gone on to make a full T20 debut for India, for a duck.
They recovered to post 221 for eight but England held their nerve to claim a three-wicket win, with key contributions from Ben Duckett and Joe Clarke – and although they lost a tight semi final in which Fisher claimed impressive figures of two for 21 from his 10 overs, they claimed third place in a play-off against Australia.
“That India quarter-final will stand out for me for the rest of my life,” Fisher reflected at the Performance Centre in Loughborough this week, after England’s latest Under-19s squad had a last get-together before they head for Mumbai on Monday.
“There was a lot of talk about their players, quite a few had played in the IPL. So it was good to get one over them in a tight run chase.
“The whole tournament was a great experience, just being around the lads and going further than we were expected to. We’d had quite a poor summer series against Pakistan, although we always felt like we were improving.
“We got so close to beating them in the semi final. But we learned so much as a squad. If you look at our squad and the amount of players who have gone on to play for the Lions or even England – Ben Duckett, Clarkey, and lads like Haseeb Hameed, Saqib Mahmood and Tom Alsop came in the following summer. It’s really good to see.”
Fisher was not considered for last year’s World Cup in Bangladesh at Yorkshire’s request, partly because he was also at a crucial stage in his studies for three A-levels at Easingwold School in the north of the county. But he remains eligible for Under-19s cricket for the rest of this winter as he does not turn 20 until November – and after being troubled by a hamstring problem throughout 2016 that restricted him to a handful of second team appearances, he grasped the India tour as the chance to gain additional international experience.
“Being injured so much last summer I just needed to trust my body again and get bowling,” he explained. “First of all Dizzy [Jason Gillespie, who had been his coach at Yorkshire] fixed me up with the chance to play for 10 weeks in Australia before Christmas, with his old club Adelaide. Then Grav [David Graveney, the Under-19s chairman of selectors] ‘phoned me up just before Christmas - and asked if I could be captain as well.
“So I jumped at the chance really. At that stage I didn’t really know many of the players. But I’ve worked hard to get to know the lads, because it’s my job as captain to see their strengths and weaknesses. The couple of days we had in Loughborough, it’s been like I’ve known them for three or four years.
“It’s going to be a tough tour for all of us, going out to India. But it should be a great experience, and we’re all really looking forward to it.”
England will have three days to acclimatise and then a warm-up game before the series starts at the famous Wankhede Stadium on January 30.
They had been due to head for Chennai for two four-day matches against their Indian counterparts, but they have now been switched to the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur – where the senior England team will face India in a T20 international on January 29.
Max Holden, the Middlesex opener who has been captaining the Under-19s since last year’s World Cup, will resume the leadership for those four-day games, with Fisher returning to the ranks alongside his fellow Yorkshireman, Harry Brook – who is one of 10 uncapped players in the squad.
Andy Hurry’s coaching staff includes the ECB’s senior batting coach Mark Ramprakash and the lead spin-bowling coach Peter Such, as well as Jon Lewis, the former England seamer who is now assistant coach at Sussex.
England Under-19s squad to tour India
M Fisher (Yorkshire, captain for one-day series)
M Holden (Middlesex, captain for four-day matches)
H Brook (Yorkshire)*
G Bartlett (Somerset)
E Woods (Surrey)*
W Jacks (Surrey)*
D Rawlins (Sussex)*
O Pope (Surrey, wk)
T Banton (Somerset, wk)*
L Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire)*
L Shaw (Somerset)*
A Beard (Essex)
J Blatherwick (Nottinghamshire)*
H Brookes (Warwickshire)*
J Bruce (Middlesex)*
* Denotes uncapped
Fixtures
- One-day series v India Under-19s (Mumbai) – 30 January (Wankhede Stadium), 1 February (CCI), 3 February (CCI), 6 February (Wankhede Stadium), 8 February (Wankhede Stadium)
- Four-day matches v India Under-19s (Nagpur) – 13-16 February, 21-24 February (both VCA Stadium)