The sons also rise

The mood at the end of the Australia-Pakistan semi-final is captured in a heartbreaking frame of a desolate Abdul Qadir walking unbeaten to the pavilion from the non-strikers’ end,after McDermott got the final Pakistan wicket with an over to spare. Along with McDermott,among the euphoric Aussies at Lahore that day was opener Geoff Marsh — who was to round off a highly successful tournament with a vital contribution in the final.

More than two decades later,the chances are bright of Qadir,McDermott and Marsh playing another World Cup semi-final — not the ones with receding hairlines and puffed faces,but teenage boys with big dreams and hair still intact,who will play the under-19 World Cup. The Pakistan and Australia squads in New Zealand for ICC’s biannual youth event have a distinct ‘80s feel to them,with names such as Usman Qadir,Alister McDermott and Mitchell Marsh instantly ringing a bell. Joining them on the star-son list are Nicholas Buchanan — former Australia coach John’s son — and former India all-rounder Ajay Sharma’s son Manan. Also keenly following the action in New Zealand will be John Bracewell,whose nephews Doug and Michael are the home team’s big hope.

And the nostalgia gets multiplied when it turns out that these players don’t just possess famous surnames,but also similar skill-sets as their fathers.

Midway through a conversation about his son,who has inherited both his father’s red head and his trademark side-on bowling action,McDermott Senior is pleasantly surprised about the presence of Qadir Junior in the Pakistan under-19 squad. His first reaction is surprise,followed by an instinctive query and an obvious assumption. “What does he do? Must be a leg-spinner.” And when told that Usman shared the same action as Abdul Qadir,McDermott breaks into a spontaneous chuckle.

Mitchell Marsh,the 18-year-old Aussie skipper,opens the batting just like his dad Geoff did for Australia over 50 Tests and 117 one-dayers. According to Geoff though,Mitchell hasn’t inherited too much of his dogged style at the crease. Mitchell’s older brother Shaun,26,is an ODI regular and an international T20 star after the IPL’s first season,and the aggression seems to have rubbed off on his younger brother. As 51-year-old Geoff says,“You can see a bit of me in him,but he has the big shots like Shaun.”

It’s almost redundant to mention that Manan,like his all-rounder father,is a left-arm spinner and a middle-order batsman,and Ajay has a simple explanation for the trend. “Every father teaches his son what he knows best,” Ajay says. “The only thing I know is cricket and that’s what I taught him.” McDermott and Marsh word it differently,talking instead of ‘genes’ and ‘cricket in the blood’.

Drawn to the game

While none of these prodigal sons were old enough to watch their fathers as active cricketers,they were instinctively drawn to the game. Mitchell virtually grew up around the Australia dressing room since Geoff was appointed the national coach just after he was born. “Somehow,I feel he picked up the passion for the game from that time,” Geoff says. McDermott’s son Alister,too,doesn’t have memories of his father wearing the baggy green,but watched plenty of videos growing up before modeling his own bowling action on his father’s.

Manan was fascinated by the huge kitbag his father used to lug in through the doors when he was still learning to walk. “He would crawl to me and see me taking out the bat and pads. After he grew up a bit I requested my bat manufacturers to make a mini-replica with which he could hit the ball,” says Ajay.

Their mothers weren’t far from the action either. With two hard-hitting young boys in the backyard,window-panes were the first casualty at the Marsh household. “They would be shooed away by my wife to play away from home. But both of us knew they would not listen,” Marsh says,breaking into a laugh.

Manan’s mother accidentally proved instrumental in the all-rounder getting his basics right. Ajay speaks of an unusual complaint that he came across one evening when he returned home after a game. “My son was barely ten and used to play the boys in the building compound. My wife had heard some boys calling Manan a chucker. Being the wife of an international cricketer,she was offended and told me about it. I showed him the right way to bowl and he picked it up immediately,” says the 45-year-old former Test player.

Great expectations

Apart from the perks of having a 24×7 personal coach,it’s not all smooth sailing. Expectations are high not just from everyone involved with the game,but also at home. Marsh speaks about disagreements in backyard matches over the right way to play. “Even if you have played at the highest level,you always remain a father. And all sons have arguments with their fathers,” he says.

Marsh and McDermott don’t see themselves as pushy parents but Ajay confesses that he has even slapped his son at a net session. “I used to get irritated when he didn’t do things that I wanted him to. The session wouldn’t get over unless he rectified his mistakes and at times this would go on for hours. He has worked pretty hard to reach where he is today,” he says.

All agree,though,that after a certain point,they had to let go. Mitchell,at 18,is grown up enough by Aussie standards to have moved out of home and cricket-chatter with his father these days is confined to phone calls. “Their state coaches Tom Moody and Troy Cooley take care of him now,” he says.

McDermott,by virtue of being the junior coach at Queensland,where Alister and younger brother Ben play,has more personal interactions with his boys. Ajay,on the other hand,has stopped going to the matches since his presence makes Manan tense.

Proud papas

Despite distancing themselves from their sons,the proud fathers struggle for words when they speak of the satisfaction of seeing them do well. Geoff was in the stands a few days back at a state T20 game and,early in the conversation,he shares the latest cricketing exploits of his boys. “My boys were playing the T20 Big Bash at WACA the other day and they made my trip memorable. Shaun first smashed a 58-ball 100 and later Mitchell came on to bowl and finished with figures of 4/6 from two overs,” he says. Ajay says his proudest moments are when his own team mates say Manan is better than him.

With the World Cup kicking off this week,they sound like parents in the audience before the curtains go up at a kindergarten annual day. They are keen to know if,like them,their sons have it in them to succeed on the big stage. “It is a very important tournament for the youngsters as the focus will be on them from all over the world,” says McDermott.

Besides,there are a few old scores to settle. Remind Ajay that he had dismissed Geoff once in his career,and he quickly says: “I got him stumped with a flighted ball. It was the Nehru Cup game in 1989 at Bangalore.” Will the next-generation Sharma dismiss another next-generation Marsh? Or will revenge be extracted? Coming soon in New Zealand,the sequel.

From the archives

Australia,1988
Three of the biggest names in the history of cricket,Brian Lara,Inzamam ul-Haq and Sanath Jayasuriya,made their bones in the first edition of the under-19 World Cup,then known as the Bicentennial Youth Cup,in Australia.
Former England captains Nasser Hussain and Mike Atherton had their first taste of international cricket while the world got its first glimpse of prominent Test cricketers such as Basit Ali,Mushtaq Ahmed,Chris Cairns,Lee Germon,Nayan Mongia,Venkatpathy Raju,Pravin Amre,Ridley Jacobs and Jimmy Adams. And former England left-arm seamer Alan Mullally,incidentally,opened the attack for Australia.

South africa,1998
He went on to provide great solidity to the West Indian middle-order,but who remembers that Ramnaresh Sarwan was the joint leading wicket-taker in the South Africa edition with 16 dismissals? Compatriot Chris Gayle,more predictably,was the highest run-getter with 364 runs.
The tournament also featured Virender Sehwag,Harbhajan Singh,Mohammad Kaif,Australian Marcus North,England’s Owais Shah,Graeme Swann and Robert Key,Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik and Abdul Razzaq and Sri Lankan Test wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene.

Sri Lanka,2000
Current South African skipper Graeme Smith was the leading run scorer with 348 runs,while Yuvraj Singh was the Man of the Series. Nine players — Australia’s Michael Clarke,Mitchell Johnson,Shane Watson and Nathan Hauritz and Pakistan’s Kamran Akmal,Faisal Iqbal,Mohammad Sami,Danish Kaneria and Imran Farhat — from the ongoing Australia-Pakistan Test series were at loggerheads for the first time during the Sri Lanka edition. Jonathan Trott,the newest South African in England’s Test squad,opened the innings for the Proteas.

New Zealand,2002
Australian all-rounder Cameron White was the leading run-scorer in the New Zealand edition with 423 runs at an average of 70.50. Former Zimbabwean wicketkeeper captain Tatenda Taibu was adjudged the Man of the Tournament.
White’s IPL team mates at Bangalore Royal Challengers Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder also made their first impressions here. The other players to make their mark at the Test level from this batch include Salman Butt,Umar Gul (from Pakistan),Hashim Amla (South Africa),Upul Tharanga,Dammika Prasad (Sri Lanka),Mohammad Ashraful,Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh) and Irfan Pathan.

Bangladesh,2004
Delhi’s Shikhar Dhawan set a tournament record with 505 runs in Bangladesh,and took home the Man of the Tournament award. Although Dhawan’s international career didn’t take off as expected,his team mate Suresh Raina’s did. Robin Uthappa,Dinesh Karthik and RP Singh were the other noteworthy players in the Indian team.
The other players to make it to Test cricket from the Bangladesh edition were Tim Paine and Callum Ferguson (Australia),Denesh Ramdin,Lendl Simmons,Ravi Rampaul and Xavier Marshall (West Indies),Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara (England).

Sri Lanka,2006
Saurashtra’s Cheteshwar Pujara’s hunger for runs was evident right from the Sri Lanka edition,where he topped the batting charts with 349 runs,averaging 116.33 per game. Moises Henriques of Australia was the highest wicket-taker with 16 wickets. Among Pujara’s team mates were future India cricketers such as Piyush Chawla and Rohit Sharma,while David Warner’s explosive power was seen in action on television screens for the first time.
Current England middle-order batsman Eoin Morgan captained his native Ireland while Kieron Pollard,Kemar Roach (West Indies),Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka) and Martin Guptill (New Zealand) got an early taste of international cricket.

Malaysia,2008
Uttar Pradesh’s Tanmay Srivastava was the highest run-getter with 265 runs,helping captain Virat Kohli win the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. New Zealand’s Tim Southee was named the Man of the Tournament.
This was all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s second under-19 World Cup,while Aussie left-handed opener Phillip Hughes and South Africa’s Wayne Parnell caught the public eye. While fast bowler Mohammed Aamer withdrew due to a bout of dengue,compatriot Umar Akmal and West Indian Adrian Barath featured prominently before going on to slam centuries on Test debut.

— Aditya Iyer

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