ESPNcricinfo Blog Comments after Lanka vs England Under 19 Match

ESPNcricnfo, 8 February 2016, …. http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-under-19-world-cup-2016/content/story/970105.html = IN REVERSE TEMPORAL ORDER

• yohandf on February 8, 2016, 12:34 GMT

  As i mentioned earlier . Semi final birth is minimum for SL youngsters considering the tournament is held in familiar conditions and absence of Aussies . Now we are in the business end where we need to bring A game . India is strong but not unbeatable . SL came close winning a game in last month ( lost by 6 runs ) with them . We need to put them out of their comfort zone with unexpected punches . GO LION CUBS !!

• Trickstar on February 8, 2016, 6:46 GMT

  @ CarlWhyte

  ‘isn’t this curran the potential superstar?’

  Potential superstar, maybe but who knows. Watching them both before this you can see why people are getting excited, Tom took most wickets in Div 2 with 72, same number as Footitt and he got a call up but Tom’s only 20. Potentially they both could play for England. Obviously Sam’s only 17 and has some growing and filling out to do. Which will only improve his game. The kids a left hander that can swing the ball into the right handers and away from the Lefties, when done consistently that’s a dangerous bowler.Atm he bowls good lines, with a fast arm action and is always at the batsman asking questions. He needs to put a bit of pace on but as above he will with time.

•   Sajid Rahman Bhuiyan on February 8, 2016, 6:40 GMT

  A fine performance by Sri Lanka’s spinners was capped

• Trickstar on February 8, 2016, 6:22 GMT

  Well done SL.I said after England qualified for the Quarters that they’d not been exposed too much good spin & thus it proved to be their undoing. Imo it’s always better for a team that’s not certain of conditions to bat 2nd & chase. See how the team that’s familiar with the pitches go about their business & learn from them. Going in the pitch was different from those that offered a bit to pace & England underused Taylor. The first couple of wickets were silly errors, the drag on & Holden being out of position to play the shot & got squared up & we needed a start. The decision to give Taylor out was v.poor,ball pitched way on leg side & then after that the pressure told. On the whole though I think there’s some players that have a future, T Curran has obviously showed what he can do in CC & so has his younger brother Sam. Sam’s only 17 & is has some growing & filling out to do. I like Mahmood, bowled a good pace, accurate & a good yorker. Burnham & Taylor look promising batsman as well

• Manik_mia on February 8, 2016, 1:23 GMT

  I will give IND 75% and SL 25% chance to will the semi-final.

• indianlankacricfan on February 7, 2016, 20:34 GMT

  there were no special deliveries that got eng batsmen it’s their lack of knowledge in spin better lanka add seamers for semis.

• Charindra on February 7, 2016, 20:28 GMT

  Great job by our boys. I hope several of these youngsters will be playing for the SL national team in the next decade, if not this one.

• PorkStan on February 7, 2016, 20:22 GMT

  This match reminded me once upon a time(90s) Sri Lankan team which used to bowl out opposition and finish the chase ASAP. My best wishes to Lankan U19 boys. However I support my team India to win this U19 WC with most likely an India-Pakistan final.

• DJayasooriya on February 7, 2016, 20:21 GMT

  congratulation to Under-19 cricket team came to semi-final i can see the bright future in sl cricket next few year new young talent coming up express them self how good they are hope to see some of the players next coming few years national team keep up doing good work good luck

• Nutcutlet on February 7, 2016, 18:52 GMT

  Srilanka completely out-played an England side that had flattered to deceive earlier in the tournament against sides that were among the make-weights for this tournament. Well done to the Srilsnkan lads: they read the conditions correctly and packed their side with a variety of spinners. England was slow to catch on. This pitch was different from Chittagong: canny batting, picking the gaps to score as theSL openers did so well, was the way to go. There was nothing for Sam Curran in this strip, but his days will assuredly come… Let him learn. He will and it will be worth watching! And so, in the subcontinent, subcontinental teams will take all the semi-final places. Is anyone that surprised?

• DubaiGura on February 7, 2016, 17:51 GMT

  Well done for SL boyz, for clearing the first Hurdle to move into Semis, & now it is an interesting Coincidence SL plays Indians twice on the same day ; 9th Tuesday, In India ( Seniors ) for T20I and in B’desh ( Juniors) for the 1st Semi Final ! Hope Fans from Both countries will witness some superb cricket thru out the day between the two Asian Cricketing Giants …Wish S’lankans will hold the nerve to turn the Tables on favorites Indians in both editions..

• Sithum.S on February 7, 2016, 16:41 GMT

  I am very disappointed to see some of the comments here. In 2009 U-19 WC was in New Zealand, in 2012 it was in Australia, in 2014 it was in UAE. Why call it Asian U-19? It’s very disrespectful. Sri Lanka, outmuscled, outthink and outsmart England in all aspects of the game. I was amazed by the level of maturity shown by the youngsters. They understood the conditions, gave England a dosage of Spin for 43 overs to bowl them out for 184. Keep in mind that some of the English players have county cricket experience, so are some Indian players with IPL experience. Contrary to popular belief England should beat SL 90% of the time. So lets not kid ourselves by saying England had a bad day, so they lost. They lost because they had no answers to Brilliant Sri Lankan Tactics. As far as semis are concerned India are favourites , simply because they more matured and experienced internationally but SL is not going to die wondering, will be a great game. I am Sri Lankan fan but I Love young Sarfraz.

• cjscanada on February 7, 2016, 16:29 GMT

  @Showkat Khan, that is true. One bad game and you are out. @Paul2929. Ah, if, a small word, but with a big difference. Permutations and possibilities do not make facts. I would want Pakistan to qualify, then there will be a real tussle for the world cup. Good luck to all.

• TheRipper on February 7, 2016, 16:05 GMT

  It is a shame Australia u-19 cricketers didn’t turn up. It will be too late for them when the next world cup takes place.

• Herath-UK on February 7, 2016, 15:48 GMT

  It will be damn good if the ICC & the commentators encourage these young players to speak in their mother tongue with the necessary interpretation rather than exerting undue pressure making the young ones very uncomfortable. We can hear more honest details from them rather than they involuntarily try to run away from the microphone.

• 2929paul on February 7, 2016, 14:40 GMT

  The England boys will be disappointed but at least now they understand what it’s like playing against decent spinners in Asia. Had the Asian teams had to play a U19 World Cup in England, I’m sure Eng, Aus, SA and NZ bowlers would have been licking their lips at the prospect.

•   Showkat Khan on February 7, 2016, 14:35 GMT

  Although quite rightly the Indians are favourites, but don’t be surprised if the Sri Lankans beat the Indians.

• Rizwanodayar on February 7, 2016, 14:16 GMT

  It is disappointing trend no single TV telecaster want to telecast either this match or there provincial tournament final in SriLanka are we going backward toward the old era.

• BiswasCom on February 7, 2016, 14:06 GMT

  Well done and go ahead for the next mission.

• TowfiqueToronto on February 7, 2016, 14:01 GMT

  I predicted in the beginning of the tournament 4 semifinalists of India, Bangladmesh, Srilanka and I m 99% sure Pakistan will join. Being a bd fan I like it. I hope bd will play final.

• virendra_s on February 7, 2016, 13:59 GMT

  this is becoming U19 Asia Cup…..

• Diaz54 on February 7, 2016, 13:26 GMT

  All super stars in UK…all are great.

• Behind_the_bowlers_arm on February 7, 2016, 13:05 GMT

  Was led to believe Curran and Crane were Wasim Akram and Shane Warne …. only better.

• landl47 on February 7, 2016, 13:02 GMT

  CARLWHYTE ON FEBRUARY 7, 2016, 10:33 GMT isn’t this curran the potential superstar?

  He’s a promising 17-year old who has played 6 FC games scoring 239 runs @47 and taking 22 wickets @ 26. This was his first experience as a Youth International and in 6 YODIs in the subcontinent he’s scored 96 runs @32 and taken 12 wickets @15.

  It’s a bit early to start giving him labels like ‘potential superstar’ but he’s certainly one to watch. Australia unfortunately pulled out of this tournament, it would have been interesting to see their young players, too.

• bangla_slog on February 7, 2016, 12:53 GMT

  So its India vs Sri Lanka in one semi and Bangladesh vs Pakistan (most likely) in another semi. It seems spin and slow wicket was a challenge little too difficult for other teams. WRONG MY MAN –WINDIES BEAT THE PAKISTANIS today

• chethanaromesh on February 7, 2016, 12:49 GMT

  I like 2 things of these young SL players. one is variety of spinners. 2 left arm spinners one create a big angle to the batsmen & other can spin the ball both ways. one leg spinner ,2 off break bowler & one double arm spinner. also batsmen ability to working the ball against spinners.

• landl47 on February 7, 2016, 12:34 GMT

  I guess that will be a lesson for the England side on how to play in these conditions. Sri Lanka packed the side with spinners (they used 6, including Mendis who bowls with either arm) and after a few overs with the new ball bowled solid spin. England has a well-balanced bowling attack, but that wasn’t what was needed here. Brad Taylor has under-used himself in this tournament and wasn’t able to crank it up when he should have been a key bowler today . I’m a bit puzzled by the sentence in the review : ‘….the ball that got Taylor lbw had pitched outside leg stump while he was playing a shot.’ Is there a special rule for this tournament? Usually if a ball pitches outside leg stump it’s not out whether the batsman played a shot or not. Just curious.

• brusselslion on February 7, 2016, 12:32 GMT

  @CarlWhyte: “Isn’t this curran the potential superstar?” Yes.

• Aruna Caldera on February 7, 2016, 12:15 GMT

  AS Fernando bowled much quicker than SL senior pace bowling bunch.

• Fogu on February 7, 2016, 12:07 GMT

  Congratulations SL. Now we need PK to win tomorrow to make it an all SC semi-final. Hooray!

• klgcnd on February 7, 2016, 12:03 GMT

  Well done young lions!!!! Keep it up!!!!

• SamRoy on February 7, 2016, 11:37 GMT

  Saw the match. Rather than making discouraging comments let me state the obvious. England got stuck against spin and could not rotate strike except Sam Curran and Callum Taylor. Rest did not have the skill to manoeuvre spin bowling on a pitch which was slow and low but turning only just a bit. Has always been England’s weak point and still continues to be their weak point (apart from extreme pace and bounce wickets which nowadays have become extinct and is a weakness for almost every one except those who grew up on the old WACA). Still Curran, Callum Taylor and Mahmood from England and Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Kamindu Mendis and Asitha Fernando can play for their national teams in a few years time. Others playing in this match can also play for their national teams but these guys are probably more talented or more ahead in their development.

• Manik_mia on February 7, 2016, 10:41 GMT

  I knew this was going to happen. ENG did not face any real challenge until quarter final. BD even thumped them during warm-up game.

• CarlWhyte on February 7, 2016, 10:33 GMT

  isn’t this curran the potential superstar?

• Dibhash on February 7, 2016, 10:33 GMT

  Well done guys keep up the good work. Felt like national team could learn few tricks from you guys. Good spin attack u19s. What our nantional team lacks these days. And a solid batting performance filled with singles and twos by Fernando. kept the score board ticking while holding the wicket. Every batsman from our national team could catch many from it. All the best for the India match guys. Give your best shot.

• Dhrumit Shah on February 7, 2016, 10:28 GMT

  ohh sri lanka thump england to book semi final