The start of Saturday’s Plate Quarter-final between Canada U19 and Bangladesh U19s was delayed, as were the other three tournament matches, by fog and the early conditions favoured the bowlers. The pitch at the Stadium ground in Abu Dhabi had some grass. It was a bit green in cricketing terms. Moisture in the air and some greenness in the wicket sounded somewhat like “traditional” English playing conditions in the Arabian Gulf. It was a toss Canada wanted to win…..
“Winning the toss was always going to be important as bowling first under the conditions would have always been advantageous,” Canadian coach Ingleton Liburd told Canada Cricket Online. The morning was very foggy with a lot of dew around and this caused a half-hour delay to the start. Additionally there was a lot of grass in the pitch so there was a lot of assistance for the bowlers early on and our batsmen have not played in these conditions.”
Most of the Canadian junior squad lack playing experience against quality opposition in these conditions. But the players now have added one such experience to their cricketing knowledge base.
Saturday’s loss to Bangladesh means Canada will play Namibia, while Papua New Guinea meet Scotland in Monday’s games that will determine the lineup for Wednesday’s matches to decide 13th thought 16th places. “We will see if we can win the last couple games as we have only played full members up to now,” said Ingleton Liburd. Two wins would bring Canada 13th place.
Returing to Saturday’s game, Liburd confirmed opening bowler Saeed Sakaar was a fast bowler, although Sakaar was listed as an off-spinner in available player profiles. So the “spin came later when they were already into our lower half”. There had not been a mix of pace and spin in the Bangladesh attack at the start of the innings.
The Canadian players typically encounter a range of opponents in these tournament who may, other than on paper records or a team list, be unknown. Several of the Canadian juniors would have knowledge about leading West Indies juniors, thanks to playing for the ICC Americas in the 2013 WICB Under-19 Regional One Day championship.
Did the young Canadians know much about the Bangladesh bowling attack? “No we were not familiar with Bangladesh bowlers and it was a much different pitch at the stadium to what we played on before. Also the environment is so different, ” said Liburd.
Interestingly, West Indies U19 coach Roddy Estwick provided a perspective on changing weather and pitch conditions in the UAE through a West Indies Cricket Board media conference and audio release that previewed the West Indies game with Australia.
Estwick said, ” It wasn’t as hot when we first arrived. Obviously, it was pretty cold the first week to ten days, but it is now beginning to get a bit hotter, the pitches getting a bit drier as well. Earlier, it was a lot greener and the ball was moving around a bit but as the sun comes out, you can see the pitch is losing a lot of its pace. The one we played against Canada was quite slow and low… Now they will have to adjust to the heat”.
As already mentioned, Saturday’s fog in the coastal parts of the UAE on Saturday delayed the start of the four scheduled ICC U19 World Cup games by half-an-hour. Both India and Canada struggled to 26 for four wickets in the early going against England and Bangladesh respectively.
Canada was unable to recover substantially, but India’s experience allowed them to post a total beyond 200. A total England found challenging, scratching about against some of the spinners before winning with five balls to spare. A dropped catch in the late going also helped England.
The report on Roddy Estwick’s media conference on Cricinfo said he was looking for the top four in the West Indies to perform with the bat against Australia on Sunday. His wish was not granted on the day, but number five bat Nicolas Pooran held firm until the fifth ball of the last over. Pooran scored 143 and added 136 for the ninth wicket with Jerome Jones.
Jones made 20, the second highest contribution by a West Indies batsman on the day and five more than the sum of the top four’s contribution of 15.
Estwick had spoken about a pre-tournament concern, “Before we left the Caribbean, we knew the batting, we weren’t doing as well as we would like, so we are still working on it. We are trying to get it right, trying to make sure we can spend some time at the crease, get some partnerships, somebody in the top four to get a big score. ” But not this Sunday, as it turned out, and Australia won by five wickets.
Canada’s tournament proper began with a loss against Zimbabwe, an ICC Full Member country who had beaten Australia in a warm-up game. Canada then made reasonable totals in the 200’s against South Africa and West Indies. The West Indies slumped to three down for one run on opening day against South Africa. So there are elements of a rollercoaster ride for most, if not all, in this junior championship.
Estwick’s media comments mentioned the West Indies had adjusted to conditions warming up and becoming hot in the UAE. Canada’s juniors came from indoor practices, outdoor snow and winds associated with a polar vortex.
The pitch for Saturday’s inaugural Nova Scotia Snow Cricket Championship did not seem to have a blade of grass – it was wood laid on the snow in Annapolis Royal. It looked warm by recent local standards on Saturday, based on photos of the players limited weather gear, but well short of likely temperatures in the Gulf where the ICC U19 championships are taking place. Even on a cold day in the Gulf.
Canada has two games remaining in what is now the contest for 13th place. Ingleton Liburd concluded: “We will see if we can win the last couple games as we have only played full members up to now.”
Eddie Norfolk