By Niall Hickman
MATCH DRAWN – Australia 446 and 253-6d. England 392 and 186-3d.
Umpires – Alex Wharf and Michael Gough.
Full Scorecard at – http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/804875.html
Handshakes all round after four days of cutting edge cricket between England and Australia’s finest young Under-19s talent ended in a draw.
With England 186-3, skipper Haseeb Hameed accepted the offer of a share of the spoils and both teams trooped off the Emirates Durham ICG following four days of compelling action.
After Australia scored 253-6 in their second innings, England needed 308 runs to win in just 47 overs, but with just a dozen overs remaining and 122 still required, the offer of a draw was accepted.
In this first Ashes ‘test’ match between Under-19 sides for 16 years there were many pluses for the England team with star billing going to leg spinner Matt Parkinson, who enjoyed match figures of 9-222.
Captain Hameed chipped in with a fluent 72 not out in England’s second innings, while Tom Alsop, Max Holden, Aaron Thomason and Ryan Davies all scored valuable half centuries in England’s first knock.
From that game 16 years ago, also at Chester-le-Street, Ian Bell, Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson, were all in action this week at Trent Bridge and it is fair to assume that some of the players who performed at Durham this week will also go on to enjoy stellar careers in the game.
The final day started with Australia three down for just 92 and England harbouring hopes of quick wickets. It was not to be as Caleb Jewell continued where he left off the night before, scoring 109 not out as Australia advanced to 253-6.
It left England with a very tough ask and with 12 overs to go and seven wickets remaining, head coach Andy Hurry advised skipper Hameed to accept the offer of a draw.
Hurry said: “It was a cracking game and over the four days it has really stretched the players on both sides. It has been highly competitive and the ebbs and flows of test match cricket were there. It really put our boys under pressure. Australia batted so well on the first day to put over 400 on the board in their first innings and that required us to start our innings with real composure. We showed the ability to soak up pressure. We had that fantastic opening partnership of 95 between Tom Alsop and Max Holden which really set up the rest of the innings.
“What pleased me most was there were real contributions throughout our team, both with bat and ball, in both innings. It culminated in the final day with the declaration from them where we initially had to save the game, then we approached the last hour having to face a tough decision, whether to chase over ten an over on a very big ground. That was a tough call, but we had to pull the pin on it. It was my decision. Having worked so hard I wasn’t prepared for us to lose the game.”
Hurry reserved particular praise for Lancashire Parkinson, who wheeled away for over 50 overs for his nine wickets.
Hurry said: “On that first day that stiff gale coming down the pitch meant it was a fantastic individual contribution from him and he got his rewards from a lot of hard work. I thought he bowled outstandingly well and with great control and I know the other bowlers really appreciated his hard work.”
Hameed, who shared the trophy with Australian skipper Jake Doran, added: “It was a fantastic game and we are really pleased to have battled to a draw. These two sides drew in Australia earlier this year and I think we are very closely matched.”
Man of the match was Doran for his two big knocks, including a century in the first Aussie innings.
Doran said: “This was a really strong contest between two teams who were both desperate to win. In the end it was a very honourable draw and I know we will both take a lot from this match.”