Austin Waugh wants to make most of his potential at ICC U-19 WC

With just few weeks left to the commencement of ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup, Austin Waugh, son of former Australian captain Steve Waugh, has expressed willingness to make the most of his potential in the prestigious tournament.

"I'm aiming to test myself against the best players from around the world. I want to make the most of my potential and see how far it can take me. All three formats attract me as I enjoy testing my skills and being able to adapt from format to format," the junior Waugh said.

Austin first burst into public consciousness when he hit an unbeaten 122 in the final of the Under-17 National Championships in 2016.

 

Waugh likens his game to India all-rounder Hardik Pandya and admires late Australia batsman Phil Hughes for his "free flowing technique".

In the same tournament, which is to be held from January 13 to February 3 in New Zealand, Makhaya Ntini's son Thando Ntini is also set to play the World Cup.

Thando compares his approach to that of India captain Virat Kohli even though as a player he is much different, being a left-handed batsman and right-arm pace bowler.

"I started playing cricket in the passages of hotels with the Proteas as a three-year-old. My father played, so I followed in his footsteps," Ntini said.

Giving Austin company in the Australia squad is Will Sutherland, son of Cricket Australia's Chief Executive James Sutherland, who represented Victoria in the domestic circuit till 1993-94.

Will, who looks up to Shane Watson, has already played List A cricket as an all-rounder. He, like Austin, was one of Australia's key performers in a recent series against the Sri Lanka Under-19 team.

Australia had a similar representation in 2012 when Mitchell Marsh, son of Geoff Marsh and younger brother of Shaun Marsh (U19 CWC 2000 and 2002), led Australia to their third title. Also in the side was Alister McDermott, the elder son of renowned pace bowler Craig McDermott. Alister's younger brother Ben played in the 2014 edition, but he is a wicketkeeper-batsman and not a pace bowler like the other two in the family.

For New Zealand, Lance Cairns's son Chris Cairns and Brian Hastings's son Mark Hastings played in the inaugural 1988 edition in Australia while Brendon Bracewell's son Doug and Rod Latham's son Tom Latham represented the country in 2010.

The 2000 edition saw the emergence of Yuvraj Singh, son of Yograj Singh, a contemporary of Kapil Dev. Singh was the player of the tournament in 2000 as India won the trophy under Mohammad Kaif, and also went on to be named player of the tournament at the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011.

In the following edition, Stuart, son of 1983 World Cup star Roger Binny, represented India. Stephen Cook, son of Jimmy Cook who faced the first ball in Test cricket at home for South Africa in 1992 on their readmission, also played in that edition.

Tagenarine Chanderpaul (son of Windies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul), Corbin Bosch (son of South Africa player Tertius Bosch) and Hashen Ramanayake (son of Sri Lanka pace bowler Champaka Ramanayake) all played in the 2014 edition in the United Arab Emirates.