Surrey man Nathan Barnwell is set to represent England at the U19s World Cup in January but who is the rookie seamer following in the footsteps of?
Barnwell enjoyed an excellent 2021 with his performances for the Surrey Academy and 2nd XI earning him call-ups for the U19 national side, a place in the London team at the ECB Super 4s and eventually a rookie contract for 2022 with Surrey.
He has already been part of the professional group at Surrey, training at The Kia Oval through November before warm-up fixtures with England in Sri Lanka.
Now, he has travelled to the Caribbean along with the rest of the England squad to prepare for the tournament starting on 14th January. They will be looking to become only the second England side to lift the trophy, after the 1998 team.
You can see all the squads for the upcoming tournament here.
Ahead of that competition, we have a look at the Surrey players who have played in previous iterations.
Will Jacks – 2018
Now a star in Surrey’s white-ball sides, the Vitality Blast Player of the Year in 2020 was already forging a reputation for incredible ball striking prowess in 2017/18.
He made his Surrey’s first XI debut in the summer of 2018 but before that he smashed a Test century against India in the summer of 2017 and followed that up with 102 against Canada in this tournament.
He ended up with 193 runs from six innings but England were knocked out at the quarter-final stage by Australia, who lost the final to India.
Sam Curran – 2016
Still with looks youthful enough to get away with a place in this year’s England squad photo, it’s now six years since Sam featured at a youth World Cup. In his year, England won their group but lost at the last eight stage to Sri Lanka.
He performed much as we’ve come to expect of him since, scoring 201 runs across six innings with a high score of 83 and taking seven wickets at 20.57.
It’s fair to say he’s not looked back since, now a County Championship winner with England caps in all three formats and beloved by fans of Chennai Super Kings in India.
Dom Sibley – 2014
Now with Warwickshire, Sibley came through Surrey’s ranks as a boy and had already made his senior debut for the Club by the time of the 2014 World Cup.
England made it to the semi-finals before defeat against Pakistan with Sibley playing just twice.
2012
While none of them were with the Club at the time, current Surrey players Ben Foakes, Jamie Overton & Reece Topley all featured for England in this tournament. Aneesh Kapil, who played for Surrey in 2014 and 2015 also played as South Africa beat England at the quarter-final stage.
Matt Dunn – 2010
Dunny shared a changing room with some players who have gone on to become England legends, namely Jos Buttler, Joe Root & Ben Stokes in this tournament
They were defeated at the quarter-final stage by West Indies though before Australia won the title. Dunn himself took three wickets in his two matches.
Our seamer has had his misfortune with injuries throughout his senior career but continues to lead the attack well as he enters his 12th year as a professional.
Stuart Meaker – 2008
A lightning quick bowler even at this stage, Meaker took three wickets in his two appearances as England lost to India in the quarter-finals in this one,
He played four times for England and remained with Surrey until the end of the 2019 season when he moved to Sussex before retiring at the end of the 2021 campaign.
Rory Hamilton-Brown – 2006
Former Surrey captain Hamilton-Brown was part of the squad captained by Moeen Ali that lost at the semi-final stage to India. Hamilton-Brown made 141 in five innings and took four wickets with his part-time off-spin.
This came after two competitions in which no players with Surrey at the time featured.
Michael Carberry, Tim Murtagh – 2000
England, as defending champions from 1998, went with top order batter Carberry and seamer Murtagh from Surrey’s ranks. It didn’t go to plan however, with England departing at the group stage. Carberry made 118 runs from his five innings, England’s second highest scorer, and Murtagh was the team’s leading wicket taker with nine.
They both enjoyed strong senior careers with Murtagh still going over the river at Middlesex and only retired from Test cricket with Ireland in 2020. Carberry played for Kent and Hampshire as well as six Tests and six ODIs with England.
Martin Bicknell & James Boiling – 1988
Before the turn of the century, U19s World Cups were much more sporadic with most international youth sides preferring longer tours comprising of Test and ODI cricket.
However, the first ever in 1988 included Martin Bicknell, who went on to become one of the greatest wicket takers in Surrey history, and James Boiling, an off-spinner who played 43 first-class and 84 List A games for Surrey between 1988 and 1994.
Boiling took 12 wickets and Bicknell eight as an England side including Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton were beaten by eventual winners Australia in the semi-final.
Future Surrey players Chris Lewis and Mark Ramprakash were also involved in this tournament with England.
