Gap between U19 and Senior Cricketers

[Bhiku Mhatre]

I was looking at the points table after the priliminary rounds of U19 world cup and noticed in all 4 groups, top teams were from Asia (India, SL, Bangladesh and Pakistan) and I believe asian teams always perform good in U19 cricket, But if you see top 2 performing teams in last few years its always the Non-Asian teams (Aussies, SA , NZ). Which is something for BCCI to ponder ! People say Indian cricket needs to be revamped at grass root level in schools, etc, but looks like Its other way around, we need to improve and make our U19 cricketers solid to have them smooth transition to senior cricket. Any opinion guys ?

[Ram]

My post on this topic, sometime ago.

The watchword for excellence at the highest level is professionalism. Talent can take you only till certain levels, but beyond that, it is how professional you are, at each and every step you make, that will decide how you perform. It is no wonder that the hugely talented Asian teams perform exceedingly well in junior level cricket tournaments, where the work-ethics of all the teams are almost the same. It is between the ages 17 and 21 that i think the Australian system of professional coaching/training and preparation that help them produce such outstanding cricketers. Besides, have we ever heard of an Aus player who hits his team-mate with a bat ? or make a stupid statement against his team-mate or call his selectors a " bunch of jokers headed by a muppet" ? Such nonsense occurs only in Asia, coz our people way to importance to individuals rather than the team. Legends like Michael Beven, Steve Waugh were ruthlessly dropped from the team or given clear signals to quit, even though they were performing decently enough. We need a culture change in our system, a shift to a culture that stresses on accountability, consistent standards for all and gives huge importance to perfection. Till that happens, all we, as fans, can hope for is only to reminisce on the odd good performance of our teams. Continued success will alway elude us.

[Toony™®]

I will add my two cent worth.. look at the teams who have won the tournaments throughout the years..its only recently 2000... that asian teams have dominated youth tournaments and other than england (98) and australia(02) no other team have won it and looked as talented. Presumably, aussies have had talented youngsters in late 80 and 90s..but quality is getting smaller. The average age of australian team is over 30 and their youth teams have been poor. Talent is filtering through and subcontinents turn to dominate.

[fineleg]

My post on this topic' date=' sometime ago.[/quote'] So, u do accept that "System" is important? There was a debate a while back on how much important a system is for producing top notch cricketing team.

[Ram]

So' date=' u do accept that "System" is important? There was a debate a while back on how much important a system is for producing top notch cricketing team.[/quote'] System helps you produce a good team consistently. Aus will always be up there amongst the top teams. But to have a world beating team like they have had in the last 10-12 years, you ALSO need a lot of luck, vis-a-vis, lot of great cricketers being contemporaries of the each other.

[bharat297]

Its all to do with domestic cricket. The domestic cricket in India is not as competitive as it is in Australia and England. The problem is that good domestic cricketers dont get selected to International level, so many domestic cricketers feel that the system has no relevance as their domestic form doesn't translate into international selection. Look at Badrinath, Bose, Kartik, Chopra, Gagandeep Singh ... these guys should have been given more goes. Thats my opinion anyway. Also, I feel Duleep needs to replace Ranji as the main domestic competition and have a season long competition, comprising of a Duleep 4-day and 1-day format. Ranji should only be a competition for those players who did not make it into their Duleep Zonal teams.

[fineleg]

Instead of all this IPL tamasha, one thing BCCI could have done is get some more top quality players coming to India and be part of the longer forms of the domestic tournaments. Imagine a B. Lee or Shane Bond playing the longer form of the domestic matches! That will be awesome learning experience for youngsters. Also, get top notch coaches at domestic levels. But, alas, it may not be a "money spinner", so BCCI has gone and dumped all the $$$ into IPL.

[Bhiku Mhatre]

Its all to do with domestic cricket. The domestic cricket in India is not as competitive as it is in Australia and England. The problem is that good domestic cricketers dont get selected to International level, so many domestic cricketers feel that the system has no relevance as their domestic form doesn't translate into international selection. Look at Badrinath, Bose, Kartik, Chopra, Gagandeep Singh ... these guys should have been given more goes. Thats my opinion anyway. Also, I feel Duleep needs to replace Ranji as the main domestic competition and have a season long competition, comprising of a Duleep 4-day and 1-day format. Ranji should only be a competition for those players who did not make it into their Duleep Zonal teams.

I think problem is not with the format of our domestic competition, they already made it competitive to australian standards and even U14, U17 , U19 players are fine cricketers, but I think as marirs_mania pointed out in second post, we need Professionalism at juniour level cricketers, induce more mental training to face aussie bunters, etc. One step of getting Whatmore at NCA is good step to add work ethic, professionalism at this level, lets wait for results in a year or two.

[bharat297]

I think problem is not with the format of our domestic competition' date=' they already made it competitive to australian standards and even U14, U17 , U19 players are fine cricketers, but I think as marirs_mania pointed out in second post, we need Professionalism at juniour level cricketers, [b']induce more mental training to face aussie bunters, etc. One step of getting Whatmore at NCA is good step to add work ethic, professionalism at this level, lets wait for results in a year or two.

Just out of curiosity, how do you train an under-14 cricketer to be mentally tough? Theyre 13 years old. Thats the age when they need to be focusing on their technique and their skills.

[Predator_05]

Just out of curiosity' date=' how do you train an under-14 cricketer to be mentally tough? Theyre 13 years old. Thats the age when they need to be focusing on their technique and their skills.[/quote'] That's the age when they should be enjoying themselves without worrying too much about their technique. How good would a 13 year old's technique be anyway ? Not that great, i'd imagine. I reckon a coach would probably be looking for raw skill that could be developed, ie; a good eye, ability to strike a ball powerfully and off the middle of the bat, movement in front of the stumps, etc. Ravi could add more to this