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Durham’s Adam Hickey was handed his England Under-19s cap by Ashes hero Mark Wood on the eve of his international debut, but was powerless to stop Australia winning at a canter.
Matthew Renshaw, a 19-year-old who was born in Middlesborough and whose father used to be a team-mate of Joe Root’s dad in Sheffield, seized a surprise chance with Australia’s Under-19s to steer them to a crushing eight-wicket win in the first of five Royal London One-Day Internationals at South Northumberland CC in Gosforth.
Renshaw, whose family moved to New Zealand when he was seven, was a late addition to Australia’s squad when Patrick Page was forced to withdraw with a foot injury, and went straight into the team to open with Caleb Jewell.
They were replying to an England total of 206 that was well below par after a slapdash batting performance and Renshaw was still there on 69 from 108 balls when skipper Jake Doran hit the winning runs with eight wickets and almost 10 overs to spare.
Jewell followed his century in the second innings of the drawn four-day match at the Emirates ICG last week with 69 from 88 balls in an opening stand of 107 with Renshaw. Then, after Hampshire off-spinner Brad Taylor had dismissed Jewell and Jordan Gauci with consecutive balls, Doran joined Renshaw to add exactly 100 for the third wicket in less than 14 overs.
Each of the left-handers hit three sixes, with Doran continuing his outstanding form against England with an unbeaten 56 from 48 balls.
England’s coach Andy Hurry did not pull any punches afterwards. “I’m very disappointed,” he said. “I’ve spoken to the squad and told them that was nowhere near a reflection of how they can perform. They got to 57 for one off nine overs, then lost wickets on a regular basis and were under the pump at 93 for five on a pitch that the Australians have proved has no real demons in it.
“Then when you’re defending a low score you have to take the opportunities that are presented to you and we’ve put down four chances when the game was still there to win.
“We have to take responsibility for that and make sure we learn the lessons from that. The great thing about this series is it’s five games and an opportunity for us to pick ourselves up and get straight back on the horse at Chesterfield.”
Hurry identified Hugh Bernard, the Kent seamer who was one of four new faces in the team, as “the pick of the bowlers”, after he had both Jewell and Renshaw dropped at second slip in the same over in a lively post-lunch spell.
He also praised Taylor’s batting, after he made an unbeaten 33 from number nine in the order. “Brad batted superbly, which was no surprise to me because he’s scored a lot of runs for Hampshire’s seconds this year at number five,” added Hurry. “His knowledge of the game and his method was effective on that surface.”
Aneurin Donald, the Glamorgan batsman who came into the team and took over the captaincy in another of the changes from last week’s drawn four-day match at the Emirates ICG, won the toss and chose to bat on a fine morning.
Hickey, was on familiar territory in the North-east, but Durham’s left-handed opener edged to second slip in the fourth over.
Dan Lawrence of Essex looked in good touch until being dismissed for 22 in 17 balls in unusual fashion, stumped down the leg side by Tom Healy who was standing up to Fletcher Seymour’s medium pace.
That set the pattern for England’s innings, as a succession of batsmen played some pleasing strokes but were unable to make a substantial contribution.
Haseeb Hameed, the Lancastrian who handed the captaincy to Donald, drove Australia’s off-spinner Arjun Nair to cover for 21. Donald was bowled by Nair for 23, and after Warwickshire’s Aaron Thomason fell cheaply to the same bowler, the Essex all-rounder Callum Taylor and Kent’s wicketkeeper Ryan Davies both threatened to lead a recovery only to fall short.
Davies was caught at mid-on off the leading edge, and Taylor drove his namesake Ben, a tall left-arm spinner, to extra cover where Doran took his second sharp catch of the innings.
Somerset’s Ben Green became a fourth victim for the impressive Nair, and a second sharp stumping victim for Healy, and England were grateful to Taylor’s intelligent innings for at least taking their total past 200.
Hurry hopes that Lancashire’s Saqib Mahmood will be fit to return to the attack in the second match of the series in Chesterfield on Friday. Mahmood suffered a calf injury in the first innings of the four-day match last Tuesday.