With Covid having ravaged the local sporting scene, particularly in the school environment, the South African Under-19 outfit would be looking to breathe some life into their future prospects at the U19 World Cup in January.

Since the tournament is taking place in the West Indies, it would certainly serve as a primordial opportunity for these players to be exposed to different conditions in a setting where teams will either ‘adapt or fail’.

Junior players who have evidently tasted great success of late are those from the Cape Cobras set-up.

Only three players from that side are a part of the national squad, but, regardless, they can surely help to instil a likely winning mentality in the SA U19 squad ahead of the World Cup.

Asakhe Tsaka, who matriculated at Rondebosch Boys’ High and was part of the glorious Cobras side that were three games unbeaten to win last year’s Cricket South Africa (CSA) U19 Cubs Week, anticipates the showpiece to be a “once in a lifetime opportunity”.

“I’m really excited. To go to another country and play against the best. For me, I just want to be the best team player and hopefully, we can get the wins,” Tsaka told Cricket Fanatics Magazine.

He added that Rondebosch had served as a solid springboard into getting him the ideal recognition for Western Province and subsequently the highest junior level.

“Playing many games at school, whereby everyone saw me bowling, [they figured] I’m good enough to play in the SA U19 team,” Tsaka said amusingly.

“There was a process where I had to learn more things in order to get into the team. It was just up to me [to determine whether] I was good enough and that if I performed well then I can get into the team.”

A fellow Cobras’ successor, Kaden Solomons, who went to SACS, said it was the rivalries between the schools in their region that had placed them in good stead last year.

And this is certainly a learning curve that the national group can feed off, with all the youngsters having played with or against one another a fair amount last year, both at school and provincial level.

“The WP boys were a special bunch. We’ve been playing with or against one another for quite some time now and we understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. That really helped us progress in our games individually,” Solomons said.

“Playing against Rondebosch, for example, I know for a fact that Asakhe knows what I’m trying to do. That has always helped us. The Cubs Week was a special one for us – we’ve come a long way together, since U11 for most of us.”

Ethan Cunningham, also from Rondebosch and who is somewhat of a respected “big hitter”, said the Cubs Week and U19 set-up enabled him to make a psychological shift within his game as a batter.

“I wasn’t previously an opening batter, but at the Cubs Week I was given the opportunity to open which was a shift in my mindset because it gave me opportunities to try something new,” Cunningham said.

“And in the coaching structures and the buildup to this World Cup we’ve really just been encouraged to play a positive brand of cricket while understanding what we’re trying to do as a team. [That has] been very important for us.

“We’ve had incredible opportunities to test it out against some really good senior players and to chat to coaches, [while] as a team to try and find our identity,” he said, adding that from a personal perspective he aims to “be aggressive, positive and try to dominate bowlers while playing intelligent cricket”.

With Cunningham having touched on the freestyle approach of the coaching structures, and with some “big names” serving in that capacity such as Rory Kleinveldt (bowling consultant) and Neil McKenzie (batting consultant), Solomons had echoed his sentiments in that respect.

“They’ve really elevated the way we think about the game. I think that’s the most important aspect they’ve brought in for us as young cricketers,” Solomons continued.

“They’ve sort of helped us develop and move forward with an aggressive mindset, but [with] calculated risks at the same time.”
Shukri Conrad was appointed as the head coach and Solomons said his openness and honesty had equipped the players with the sort of attributes needed for them to evolve.

“He’s changed the way we play our cricket – he wants to move with the times and I really enjoy the energy he’s brought into the team. It’s been a great time so far.”

Cunningham added that a “safe environment” was created within the squad, which allowed them to be exposed to more positive technicalities as individuals.

“We feel like we can learn and we’re really honest with one another. We don’t try to hide things and that’s been a good eye-opener in some sense. We’re able to have honest conversations about cricket and other things,” he said.

“The way the coaches have worked together has been important – they’ve been able to connect as a team, which moulded us as a team to follow.

“They’ve just created a really good environment for us and pushed us in a good way to take it to a new level.”
Conrad’s interpersonal skills was a trait that Tsaka highlighted as having been influential to him and the squad as a whole.

“The way that he speaks to you, like he’s open and honest about the things you do, and he told me I should believe in myself. He’s someone you can rely on when you need someone to talk to.”

Tsaka added that McKenzie helped him to harness his skill-set of becoming a “bowling-all-rounder” and that Kelinveldt was “one of the best coaches I’ve ever seen”.

The SA U19s are set to commence their World Cup campaign with a key match-up against India in Guyana on January 15.