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Former South African Under-19 cricket coach Ray Jennings feels that administrators need to take a long, hard look at youth structures in the sport.
“All I can say is that there’s no way that you can have such a lack of performances over a period of time. Where has the talent gone?” Jennings said when asked if there was something lacking in the youth system since the Under-19 World Cup in 2014.
“Has the talent disappeared? Are you picking the right players, or are you tracking them incorrectly?”
South Africa won their maiden Under-19 World Cup in 2014 with Jennings at the helm. Since then, it has been a topsy-turvy time for the team.
In the two global championships prior to the ongoing edition, Team SA were knocked out in the group stages in 2016 and finished fifth in 2018.
Since then, they have played 18 one-day internationals, winning just six and suffering a heavy 7-0 whitewash loss on home soil to Pakistan in June and July.
Speaking to City Press before the junior Proteas’ second match against Canada this week, Jennings said South Africa needed to look at building big partnerships and have an all-winning mentality if they were to go deep into the tournament.
“You have to have the confidence to say: ‘We are going to beat Canada in 15 overs, annihilate them.’ It isn’t about winning, it’s about destroying.”
To their credit, coach Lawrence Mahatlane’s team beat Canada by 150 runs after posting their second-highest total in Under-19 World Cups – 349/8, which was led by captain Bryce Parsons’ 121 from 91 balls.
Confidence oozed out of the team when they took to the field in the second innings as they capitalised on Canada’s aggressive batting style to bowl them all out for 199 in 42 overs.
READ: SA U19s knock Canada out to record first win of Cricket World Cup
Their only worry seems to be their vulnerability against spin, which was their primary downfall against Afghanistan in the opening game.
However, both Parsons and assistant coach Siya Sibiya say that this is something they are aware of and have been working on, and they are confident about their ability against the bemusing tweakers they are yet to face.
“We feel that we are in a good space with our fundamentals, and the guys understand the game plans much more clearly. We are a bit better now and everyone has settled … trying to gear up by playing every ball as it comes,” Sibiya said ahead of yesterday’s game against the United Arab Emirates.
Bringing it back to the structure and system, Jennings believes that the best people need to be appointed so that they can make “better, more consistent calls”, and this can only be done if South Africa retains talent and keeps learning, especially given the importance of the youth set-up.
“The Under-19s are probably more important than the South African A side because that is the starting process,” he said, adding that the formative years are critical from an influence perspective, and strong leaders are needed to set the right example from the beginning.
Yesterday’s match ended after a rain delay with South Africa winning by 23 runs after posting 299/8 in their 50 overs. The team will face Bangladesh on Thursday for a place in the semifinals.
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