Arjun Nair, Budding Aussie Allrounder

Arjun Nair was named in the Australian under-19 cricket team. Picture: Helen Nezdropa

 HAWKESBURY Cricket Club’s Arjun Nair is a cricketer to keep an eye on in coming years.  Nair has been picked in the Australian under-19 team, which will tour the UK over July and August.  With the Ashes set to start tonight, there will be a huge focus on whether all-rounders Shane Watson or Mitch Marsh make the Australian team.  While the pair are undoubtedly the premier allrounders in Australian cricket right now, Nair’s selection has given him a fantastic chance to prove he is an all-rounder of the future for Australia.

 

Nair said he recently found out he had been picked in the team, after a stellar performance for New South Wales against Victoria in the under-17s championships.  ‘‘I was at school when I got a call from selector David Freedman and he told me that I got picked for the team,’’ he said.  ‘‘My immediate reaction was happiness and excitement when I heard about it. ‘‘I knew I had a chance to be picked but you never know.’’

Nair said he tried to model his game off former Australian wicket-keeper and flamboyant batsman Adam Gilchrist. He said he also adored test cricket greats Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar, although said Gilchrist was his cricketing hero and loved his entertaining style of cricket.

Nair is a right handed batsman and can bat in both the top and middle order, while he bowls right hand off-spinners.  His NSW under-17s coach Phil Jacques, who played 11 tests for Australia, rates Nair highly.  Jacques said he believed Nair was a future New South Wales player and could possibly crack into the test ranks one day. ‘‘His work ethic, attitude, and desire to succeed shines through in everything he does,’’ he said. ‘‘He has immense ability as a middle order batsman and off spin bowler and is a good team player.’’

Nair made his Sydney first grade debut when he was 15 years old, and is currently the 9th youngest player to play in the competition. He has been a solid member of the Hawkesbury Cricket Club’s team since his debut in the 2013-14 season, and helped the club to its best finish in two decades.

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An Indian cricketer debuts for Australian Under-19!

Arjun Nair was part of a Youth One-Day International between the U-19 teams of Australia and England.

When Australia Under-19s took on England Under-19s in an Youth One-Day International (ODI) at Gosforth on Tuesday, the Australians included a 17-year old all-rounder (right-hand batsman and off-spinner) called Arjun Nair in their side. Nair (4 for 33) formed an excellent pair with fast bowler Fletcher Seymour (4 for 56) to bowl out England Under-19s for a mere 206 in 45.1 overs. No host batsman crossed 35. In response, Caleb Jewell smashed his way to 69, and though Brad Taylor removed Jewell and Jordan Gauci in consecutive deliveries, Matthew Renshaw (69 not out) and captain Jake Doran (56 not out) saw Australia Under-19s to an 8-wicket victory with 58 balls to spare.

Born April 12, 1998, Nair is of Malayali origin. His parents Jayanand (a junior hockey player) and Salini Nair moved from Kochi to Australia in 1996. Arjun rose through the ranks at a rapid rate, making it to the Under-19 side at a very young age. At 14, Nair made his mark with 127, 119, and 103 for Hawkesbury Cricket Club, and added 119 and 109 to his tally next season. He played for New South Wales Under-17.

Gurinder Sandhu, also of Indian origin, had played for Australia Under-19s in Townsville Under-19 Quadrangular Series 2011-12 and ICC Under-19 World Cup, also in 2012. From 13 Under-19 ODIs Sandhu picked up 21 wickets at 21.28 and an economy rate of 3.72. Sandhu also went on to play two ODIs earlier this year, picking up three big wickets — those of Ajinkya Rahane, Ian Bell, and Eoin Morgan. READ: Gurinder Sandhu wants to learn reverse-swing from Zaheer Khan

Pakistan Under-19s 311 (49.4 ov)

Australia Under-19s 201/9 (40.0 ov)

Australia Under-19s require another 111 runs with 1 wicket and 60 balls remaining

Tri-Nation Under-19s Tournament in United Arab Emirates – 4th Match

Youth ODI no. 1043 | 2015/16 season

Played at ICC Academy Ground No 2, Dubai (neutral venue)

16 January 2016 (50-over match)

	Pakistan Under-19s innings (50 overs maximum)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	Zeeshan Malik	b Nair	19	27	3	0	70.37
	8.4 flatter through the air, tries to go through the line, misses a straight one 63/1
	Gauhar Hafeez*	c Cormack b Hatcher	36	33	7	0	109.09
	11.2 length ball, tries to go through the line, connect alright, good diving catch by Cormack at covers 77/2
	Mohammad Umar	c Agar b Gardiner	66	85	8	1	77.64
	39.6 flighted delivery, steps down the track, tries to go over long off, right down Agar’s throat 227/4
	Umair Masood†	b Cormack	32	39	4	0	82.05
	24.6 tries to sweep it from middle leg, completely misses it, stumps rattled, good breakthrough 139/3
	Saif Badar	c Jewell b Gardiner	53	61	5	0	86.88
	41.3 tries to go over midwicket, doesnt reach to the pitch of the ball, gets the inside half of the bat, good diving catch by Jewel at midwicket 243/5
	Hasan Khan	c Page b Hatcher	22	19	1	1	115.78
	47.1 short and wide, cuts it straight to Page at backward 293/7
	Hasan Mohsin	c Agar b Nair	34	19	2	3	178.94
	46.4 tries to repeat the hoick over long on, doesnt connect, straight to Agar at long on 293/6
	Shadab Khan	c Gardiner b Hatcher	15	12	0	2	125.00
	49.3 back of the hand, extra bouce, gets it high on the bat, easy catch for Gardiner 311/9
	Sameen Gul	c Agar b Nair	3	4	0	0	75.00
	48.5 tries to go over long on, gets the toe end of the bat, easy catch for Agar at long on 304/8
	Arsal Sheikh	not out	0	0	0	0	–
	Arfan Liaqat	lbw b Hatcher	0	1	0	0	0.00
	49.4 pitchingin line, hitting in line, loud shout, umpire raises his finger 311/10
	Extras	(lb 5, w 20, nb 6)	31
	Total	(all out; 49.4 overs)	311	(6.26 runs per over)

Fall of wickets 1-63 (Zeeshan Malik, 8.4 ov), 2-77 (Gauhar Hafeez, 11.2 ov), 3-139 (Umair Masood, 24.6 ov), 4-227 (Mohammad Umar, 39.6 ov), 5-243 (Saif Badar, 41.3 ov), 6-293 (Hasan Mohsin, 46.4 ov), 7-293 (Hasan Khan, 47.1 ov), 8-304 (Sameen Gul, 48.5 ov), 9-311 (Shadab Khan, 49.3 ov), 10-311 (Arfan Liaqat, 49.4 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	WA Agar	6	0	45	0	7.50	(3w)
	DMK Grant	9	0	62	0	6.88	(6w)
	LC Hatcher	8.4	0	67	4	7.73	(2nb, 5w)
	11.2 to Gauhar Hafeez, length ball, tries to go through the line, connect alright, good diving catch by Cormack at covers 77/2 47.1 to Hasan Khan, short and wide, cuts it straight to Page at backward 293/7 49.3 to Shadab Khan, back of the hand, extra bouce, gets it high on the bat, easy catch for Gardiner 311/9 49.4 to Arfan Liaqat, pitchingin line, hitting in line, loud shout, umpire raises his finger 311/10
	AJ Nair	10	0	48	3	4.80	(1w)
	8.4 to Zeeshan Malik, flatter through the air, tries to go through the line, misses a straight one 63/1 46.4 to Hasan Mohsin, tries to repeat the hoick over long on, doesnt connect, straight to Agar at long on 293/6 48.5 to Sameen Gul, tries to go over long on, gets the toe end of the bat, easy catch for Agar at long on 304/8
	KJ Gardiner	9	0	50	2	5.55	(1w)
	39.6 to Mohammad Umar, flighted delivery, steps down the track, tries to go over long off, right down Agar’s throat 227/4 41.3 to Saif Badar, tries to go over midwicket, doesnt reach to the pitch of the ball, gets the inside half of the bat, good diving catch by Jewel at midwicket 243/5
	MJA Cormack	7	0	34	1	4.85
	24.6 to Umair Masood, tries to sweep it from middle leg, completely misses it, stumps rattled, good breakthrough 139/3

	Australia Under-19s innings (target: 312 runs from 50 overs)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	AJ Nair	c & b Arsal Sheikh	106	89	13	3	119.10
	33.6 comes down the track and smashes it flat to long oon, Malik hesitates to come forward, puts in a last ditch dive and takes a superb low catch 170/6
	CP Jewell	c †Umair Masood b Sameen Gul	12	22	1	0	54.54
	6.3 good length deliver, just outside offstump, tries to cut it, gets an outside edgr, stunning catch by the keeper 33/1
	SB Harper*	c †Umair Masood b Hasan Mohsin	3	10	0	0	30.00
	9.3 length ball seaming away, gets an outside edge, good low catch by Umair 40/2
	PC Page	b Shadab Khan	29	49	3	2	59.18
	24.1 tossed up delivery, enticing Page into a driven, beaten through the gate 122/3
	CD Hinchliffe	b Shadab Khan	8	23	0	0	34.78
	30.1 quicker and flatter, tries to cut it, misses it, offstump rattled 154/4
	JJS Sangha	st †Umair Masood b Shadab Khan	1	2	0	0	50.00
	30.5 flighted delivery, Sangha steps down but unable to connect, good stumping by Umair 160/5
	MJA Cormack	b Arsal Sheikh	15	17	2	0	88.23
	37.5 bowls slightly fuller this time, gets an inside edge onto the stumps 184/9
	LC Hatcher	c †Umair Masood b Arsal Sheikh	1	7	0	0	14.28
	35.1 flatter through the air, goes straight, thin outside edge, good take by the keeper 171/7
	DMK Grant	c †Umair Masood b Arsal Sheikh	0	1	0	0	0.00
	35.2 flat outside offstump, thin edge again, keeper fumbles it but gets hold of it 171/8
	WA Agar	not out	14	16	2	0	87.50
	KJ Gardiner	not out	6	4	1	0	150.00
	Extras	(b 1, lb 2, w 3)	6
	Total	(9 wickets; 40 overs)	201	(5.02 runs per over)

Fall of wickets 1-33 (Jewell, 6.3 ov), 2-40 (Harper, 9.3 ov), 3-122 (Page, 24.1 ov), 4-154 (Hinchliffe, 30.1 ov), 5-160 (Sangha, 30.5 ov), 6-170 (Nair, 33.6 ov), 7-171 (Hatcher, 35.1 ov), 8-171 (Grant, 35.2 ov), 9-184 (Cormack, 37.5 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	Sameen Gul	6	1	14	1	2.33	(2w)
	6.3 to Jewell, good length deliver, just outside offstump, tries to cut it, gets an outside edgr, stunning catch by the keeper 33/1
	Hasan Mohsin	8	0	39	1	4.87	(1w)
	9.3 to Harper, length ball seaming away, gets an outside edge, good low catch by Umair 40/2
	Hasan Khan	5	1	18	0	3.60
	Arfan Liaqat	4	0	43	0	10.75
	Shadab Khan	9	0	34	3	3.77
	24.1 to Page, tossed up delivery, enticing Page into a driven, beaten through the gate 122/3 30.1 to Hinchliffe, quicker and flatter, tries to cut it, misses it, offstump rattled 154/4 30.5 to Sangha, flighted delivery, Sangha steps down but unable to connect, good stumping by Umair 160/5
	Arsal Sheikh	8	0	50	4	6.25
	33.6 to Nair, comes down the track and smashes it flat to long oon, Malik hesitates to come forward, puts in a last ditch dive and takes a superb low catch 170/6 35.1 to Hatcher, flatter through the air, goes straight, thin outside edge, good take by the keeper 171/7 35.2 to Grant, flat outside offstump, thin edge again, keeper fumbles it but gets hold of it 171/8 37.5 to Cormack, bowls slightly fuller this time, gets an inside edge onto the stumps 184/9

Match details

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Toss – Pakistan Under-19s, who chose to bat

Youth ODI debut – Arsal Sheikh (Pakistan Under-19s)

Umpires – Rashid Riaz (Pakistan) and Shozab Raza (Pakistan)
Match referee – Aziz-ur-Rehman (Pakistan)
Reserve umpire – Sachin Solanki