The legendary former Australia captain Steve Waugh’s son, Austin, was on Friday named in his nation’s 15-man squad for the 2018 U-19 World Cup, which will be held in New Zealand in January.
Austin is an all-rounder who plays for New South Wales and has been in fine form with the bat and ball recently during the Cricket Australia national U-19 championships. The spotlight has been on Austin from the time he was selected for the Australia U-16 side in 2015.
The Australian team will be captained by Jason Sangha, who also hails from New South Wales. Sangha made headlines recently for becoming the second youngest batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to score a first-class century against England. The 18-year-old achieved this feat during a tour game.
Australia, in recent times, have had a slew of second generation cricketers playing at senior level. Tom Healy, son of former wicketkeeper Ian Healy, was also selected for the Australia U-19 side a couple of years ago. Tom’s cousin Alyssa is now a senior campaigner for Australia women.
Jake Lehmann, son of current coach Darren, is now a renowned name in the domestic circuit. Geoff Marsh’s sons Shaun and Mitchell are Australia regulars. Mitchell even captained Australia’s victorious U-19 side in 2010 and went on to be a part of the senior team that lifted the World Cup on home soil in 2015.
The baton being passed on is not something that is limited to Australia alone. West Indies veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s son Tagenarine was the cynosure of all eyes during the 2014 U-19 World Cup for his eerie similarity to his father’s batting style.
Australia U-19 Squad for New Zealand
Jason Sangha (c), Will Sutherland, Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Jack Edwards, Zak Evans, Jarrod Freeman, Ryan Hadley, Baxter Holt, Nathan McSweeney, Jonathan Merlo, Lloyd Pope, Jason Ralston, Param Uppal, Austin Waugh.