England Under-19s begin their summer series against South Africa in Scarborough this weekend with the first of two four-day matches – and the latest crop of Young Lions have plenty of evidence of the opportunities that could await.
Read: Banton to lead Under-19 side after Lammonby injury
Uniquely in the long history of English cricket, three teenagers have made Test debuts in the last two years – Haseeb Hameed, Mason Crane and Sam Curran.
Mo Bobat, the ECB’s Player Identification Lead, saw the three of them play together for the Under-19s in Sri Lanka in the winter of 2015-16 – and has been delighted by the rapid progress made by many other recent graduates of the Young Lions programme.
“For everyone involved in working with these young cricketers as they have been working their way up the International Pathway, it’s a great feeling to see them continue to develop and make an impact, whether in county or international cricket,” Bobat explained.
“For example when Sam Curran made his debut alongside Dom Bess at Headingley against Pakistan, they were two lads who we’d seen develop at Under-19 level very recently, and had then moved on to play for the Lions before taking the next step to full international recognition.
“You look around county cricket and see the impact being made by players such as Ollie Pope and Amar Virdi at Surrey, Dan Lawrence at Essex, Harry Brook and Matt Fisher at Yorkshire, Tom Moores at Nottinghamshire, Henry Brookes at Warwickshire, Josh Tongue at Worcestershire – and obviously that list could run and run.
“They’ve all been familiar faces at the Performance Centre in Loughborough for the last few years, and they’ve all been able to benefit from playing international cricket, at home and away, against their contemporaries, and working with our ECB coaching leads, which has augmented the coaching and development work at their counties.
“It’s the fact that so many of them have been able to go into county cricket and make an impact so quickly – pretty much immediately, in many cases – that is especially pleasing.
“And it’s something that has been happening for a while. David Parsons, our Performance Director, was chatting to Eoin Morgan during the recent series against Australia, congratulating him on the success of the white-ball team getting to number one in the world – and Eoin made the point that it’s a success so many people have contributed to, in county cricket and through the Pathway.
“We worked out that 10 of the latest 14 man England ODI squad had played at Under 19 level – Moeen Ali, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes and David Willey.
“I know that’s a message that our new Young Lions head coach Jon Lewis will be sharing with the lads who will be representing England at Under-19s level against South Africa this summer. It’s an honour in itself, but also a huge opportunity, to make a name for themselves by taking on the best players in the world at their age."
There are two Youth Tests, with the second starting at Durham’s Emirates Riverside on Monday week (July 16), followed by a three-match Royal London One-Day Series which begins with a day-night match televised live on Sky Cricket, again in Chester-le-Street, on Monday July 23.
England Under-19s v South Africa Under-19s, July 2018
Fixtures: July 8-11, first “Test” (Scarborough); July 16-19, second “Test” (Emirates Riverside); Royal London One-Day Series – July 23 (Emirates Riverside*), July 26 (South Northumberland CC), July 29 (Scarborough). * - day-night game televised live on Sky Cricket.