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South Africa unearth the new Jonty
By Will 4 months ago, 2 Comments »
Congratulations to India who beat South Africa to raise the Under-19 World Cup trophy today. Tanmay Srivastava top-scored with 46 in India’s 159 and there were two wickets each for Siddarth Kaul, Ajitesh Argal and Ravindra Jadeja. South Africa fell short by 12 runs.
But perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the day was the unearthing of a South African fielder, Sybrand Engelbrecht, who is already drawing comparisons with Jonty Rhodes. My colleague, George Binoy, has a piece on him:
Engelbrecht was the most visible player on the field in the final against India. Fielding at point during the initial overs, he walked in with purpose as the bowler ran in, made quick ground to dive to his left or right, rushed to back up throws from fielders and egged his team-mates on vocally. He moved from point to cover or midwicket when the spinners came on to bowl, always coveting the position where the ball went often. When Manish Pandey drove Mohammad Vallie twice to cover, Engelbrecht, at midwicket, indicated that he wanted to change positions. Towards the final overs, South Africa had him at long-on for that’s where the batsmen were hitting the ball most frequently.
I’ve always found electric, mouth droppingly brilliant fielding is cricket’s most appealing aspect to the ignoramuses among us. You can take a cricket heathen to a match and watch Michael Vaughan cover drive, causing you and fellow tragics near-orgasmic gasps of wonder. But your non-cricket-fan friend won’t be any the wiser; for all they care, the ball has moved from bowler, to batsman, to the boundary. Good fielding - a swoop on the boundary; a one-handed pluck at slip; a desperate, brilliant save at point - is appreciated by everyone.
So look out for Engelbrecht - a name which sounds rather like a German trying to say “angel breath”.
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