TIM TECTOR won’t be returning home from Trinidad with silverware after his team were well beaten by the United Arab Emirates in the Plate final on Monday but the Ireland captain will know his squad overachieved by finishing 10th in the U19 World Cup.
Not a lot was expected of the class of ‘22 yet with individuals standing up at key moments and a noticeable unity pushing them forward, Tector’s team equalled Ireland’s best finish in the biennial tournament, matching the efforts of Paul Stirling, Andy Balbirnie et al in 2010.
The most consistent performer of the group was Matthew Humphreys, a left-arm spinner from Lisburn in the Northern Union who has the potential to kick on to the senior level, along with middle-order batsmen Tector and Philippe le Roux.
Tector, the third brother after Jack and Harry to captain the U19s, struggled for runs but showed his class and temperament in steering`Ireland to victory over Zimbabwe in the Plate semi-final, while Le Roux’s busy 83 not out was crucial in the quarter-final defeat of Canada.
Reuben Wilson, a tall 15-year-old from the YMCA club, impressed with his late movement and is the most exciting seam bowling prospect since Josh Little burst on to the scene while Muzamil Sherzad was joint leading wicket-taker with Humphreys.
The old man of the squad, in terms of life experience, Sherzad claimed 11 victims, including 5-20 against Zimbabwe but the Afghan refugee probably lacks both the height and a yard of pace for higher honours.
Cricket Ireland’s controversial inclusion of two passport-qualified South Africans in the squad looked to be a masterstroke when Josh Cox scored a century against Uganda in the first game, but he failed to reach double figures in his last four innings and Liam Doherty was a disappointment.
Will lessons be learned from the experiment?
The development of young players relies so much on parents both to fund equipment and in the time required to ferry kids to games and nets that it might be politic to restrict future squads to home grown teenagers.
The case of Curtis Campher, who has nailed down a place in the senior Ireland team after representing South Africa at U19 shows that early exposure is not a requirement and is probably not worth the upset it causes.
WORLD CUP AVERAGES
TOP WICKET TAKERS
# | Name | Club | Mat | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 5WI | 10WM | wds | nbs | Wkts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Muzamil Sherzad | Ireland | 5 | 33.1 | 3 | 174 | 11 | 5-20 | 15.82 | 5.25 | 18.09 | 1 | - | 6 | - | 11 |
2 | MJ Humphreys | Ireland | 6 | 56 | 3 | 246 | 11 | 4-25 | 22.36 | 4.39 | 30.55 | - | - | 6 | - | 11 |
3 | J Forbes | Ireland | 6 | 49.2 | 1 | 198 | 6 | 2-2 | 33.00 | 4.01 | 49.33 | - | - | 6 | - | 6 |
4 | R Wilson | Ireland | 4 | 26 | 3 | 114 | 5 | 3-18 | 22.80 | 4.38 | 31.20 | - | - | 15 | - | 5 |
5 | LC Doherty | Ireland | 6 | 33 | - | 186 | 4 | 2-60 | 46.50 | 5.64 | 49.50 | - | - | 8 | 4 | 4 |
6 | NJ McGuire | Ireland | 6 | 46 | 3 | 210 | 4 | 2-13 | 52.50 | 4.57 | 69.00 | - | - | 5 | - | 4 |
7 | SJ Macbeth | Ireland | 6 | 5 | - | 40 | 1 | 1-34 | 40.00 | 8.00 | 30.00 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
TOP RUNS
# | Name | Club | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 4s | 6s | Runs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | PD le Roux | Ireland | 6 | 5 | 1 | 165 | 83* | 41.25 | 252 | 65.48 | - | 1 | - | 20 | - | 165 |
2 | JV Cox | Ireland | 6 | 6 | 1 | 150 | 111* | 30.00 | 195 | 76.92 | 1 | - | 2 | 12 | 2 | 150 |
3 | JM Dickson | Ireland | 4 | 4 | 1 | 132 | 78* | 44.00 | 205 | 64.39 | - | 1 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 132 |
4 | Tim H Tector | Ireland | 6 | 6 | 1 | 112 | 76* | 22.40 | 170 | 65.88 | - | 1 | - | 10 | 1 | 112 |
5 | NJ McGuire | Ireland | 6 | 6 | - | 102 | 42 | 17.00 | 121 | 84.30 | - | - | - | 13 | 2 | 102 |
6 | SJ Macbeth | Ireland | 6 | 5 | - | 77 | 32 | 15.40 | 114 | 67.54 | - | - | - | 5 | 3 | 77 |
7 | MJ Humphreys | Ireland | 6 | 5 | 1 | 63 | 38 | 15.75 | 81 | 77.78 | - | - | 1 | 11 | - | 63 |
8 | David M Vincent | Ireland | 4 | 4 | - | 42 | 24 | 10.50 | 99 | 42.42 | - | - | - | 4 | - | 42 |
9 | J Forbes | Ireland | 6 | 5 | 1 | 41 | 25 | 10.25 | 94 | 43.62 | - | - | 1 | 3 | 1 | 41 |
10 | LC Doherty | Ireland | 6 | 5 | - | 25 | 13 | 5.00 | 60 | 41.67 | - | - | 2 | 2 | - | 25 |
11 | Muzamil Sherzad | Ireland | 5 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 13 | 5.00 | 33 | 45.45 | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | 15 |
12 | LJ Whelan | Ireland | 1 | 1 | - | 14 | 14 | 14.00 | 25 | 56.00 | - | - | - | 1 | - | 14 |
13 | R Wilson | Ireland | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1.50 | 15 | 20.00 | - | - | - | - | - | 3 |
TOUR AVERAGES
TOP WICKET TAKERS
# | Name | Club | Mat | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 5WI | 10WM | wds | nbs | Wkts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | NJ McGuire | Ireland | 12 | 100 | 12 | 374 | 21 | 5-33 | 17.81 | 3.74 | 28.57 | 1 | - | 12 | - | 21 |
2 | MJ Humphreys | Ireland | 11 | 103.1 | 8 | 411 | 21 | 5-37 | 19.57 | 3.98 | 29.48 | 1 | - | 25 | - | 21 |
3 | Muzamil Sherzad | Ireland | 9 | 57.1 | 3 | 267 | 15 | 5-20 | 17.80 | 4.67 | 22.87 | 1 | - | 10 | - | 15 |
4 | R Wilson | Ireland | 7 | 44 | 4 | 200 | 12 | 5-21 | 16.67 | 4.55 | 22.00 | 1 | - | 20 | - | 12 |
5 | J Forbes | Ireland | 11 | 92.2 | 2 | 374 | 10 | 2-2 | 37.40 | 4.05 | 55.40 | - | - | 12 | - | 10 |
6 | LC Doherty | Ireland | 11 | 61 | 1 | 301 | 6 | 2-26 | 50.17 | 4.93 | 61.00 | - | - | 8 | 7 | 6 |
7 | DW Burke | Ireland | 4 | 11 | - | 76 | 2 | 1-13 | 38.00 | 6.91 | 33.00 | - | - | 13 | - | 2 |
8 | SJ Macbeth | Ireland | 10 | 7 | - | 44 | 1 | 1-34 | 44.00 | 6.29 | 42.00 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
9 | D Forkin | Ireland | 4 | 14 | - | 75 | 1 | 1-21 | 75.00 | 5.36 | 84.00 | - | - | 6 | 1 | 1 |
10 | David M Vincent | Ireland | 9 | 4 | - | 15 | - | 0-15 | - | 3.75 | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
11 | R Millar | Ireland | 2 | 5.2 | - | 35 | - | 0-15 | - | 6.56 | - | - | - | 1 | - | 0 |
TOP RUNS
# | Name | Club | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 4s | 6s | Runs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tim H Tector | Ireland | 12 | 12 | 1 | 339 | 94 | 30.82 | 465 | 72.90 | - | 3 | - | 24 | 7 | 339 |
2 | JV Cox | Ireland | 11 | 11 | 3 | 298 | 111* | 37.25 | 484 | 61.57 | 1 | - | 2 | 22 | 4 | 298 |
3 | PD le Roux | Ireland | 11 | 9 | 1 | 213 | 83* | 26.62 | 343 | 62.10 | - | 1 | 1 | 23 | - | 213 |
4 | JM Dickson | Ireland | 9 | 9 | 1 | 168 | 78* | 21.00 | 299 | 56.19 | - | 1 | 1 | 14 | 5 | 168 |
5 | David M Vincent | Ireland | 9 | 9 | 1 | 160 | 51* | 20.00 | 340 | 47.06 | - | 1 | - | 14 | - | 160 |
6 | NJ McGuire | Ireland | 12 | 11 | - | 112 | 42 | 10.18 | 150 | 74.67 | - | - | 3 | 13 | 3 | 112 |
7 | SJ Macbeth | Ireland | 10 | 8 | - | 102 | 32 | 12.75 | 156 | 65.38 | - | - | 1 | 5 | 5 | 102 |
8 | MJ Humphreys | Ireland | 11 | 9 | 2 | 76 | 38 | 10.86 | 122 | 62.30 | - | - | 2 | 12 | - | 76 |
9 | LC Doherty | Ireland | 11 | 10 | - | 67 | 17 | 6.70 | 124 | 54.03 | - | - | 3 | 7 | - | 67 |
10 | J Forbes | Ireland | 11 | 9 | 2 | 46 | 25 | 6.57 | 134 | 34.33 | - | - | 3 | 3 | 1 | 46 |
11 | LJ Whelan | Ireland | 4 | 4 | - | 42 | 18 | 10.50 | 85 | 49.41 | - | - | - | 1 | - | 42 |
12 | Muzamil Sherzad | Ireland | 9 | 7 | 1 | 16 | 13 | 2.67 | 38 | 42.11 | - | - | 3 | 1 | - | 16 |
13 | R Millar | Ireland | 2 | 2 | - | 8 | 7 | 4.00 | 23 | 34.78 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 8 |
14 | R Wilson | Ireland | 7 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1.67 | 24 | 20.83 | - | - | - | - | - | 5 |
15 | DW Burke | Ireland | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4.00 | 14 | 28.57 | - | - | - | - | - | 4 |