Robbo's Gang leaves World Cup intensity

Sussex coaches Mark Robinson and Carl Hopkinson flew out from New Zealand earlier today with their England party after a draining emotional experience in the Under-19 World Cup. Their group will be remembered as the boys who succeeded in beating India rather than invaders who took the tournament by storm as they had hoped.

England had failed to defeat India in four previous matches -- five if the world tournament in Adelaide in 1987 were included -- and at least this sequence was ended in Christchurch. It was the unexpected 18-run quarter-final defeat by the West Indies that shattered the players.

The eventual finalists proved to be Pakistan and Australia after surviving hair-raising semi-finals. They meet for crunch time at Lincoln University on Saturday in front of live-broadcast ESPN-Star cameras.

The high point for Robbo's Gang was undoubtedly the hard-fought win over India, set up by Ben Stokes's mature 100 at Lincoln University. That proved to be easily his most significant innings, and the Christchurch-born Durham all-rounder was adopted as a New Zealander by the local media until England suffered their traumatic exit.

Robinson had the mortification of watching a much-vaunted top order fail collectively for the second time in a big match when England failed to chase down the West Indies score of 166 in 36 overs at Rangiora, a target easily attainable.

In the dressing room afterwards the players sat in silence unable to believe their tournament had finished. A few, including the Gloucestershire seamer David Payne, could not hide their tears.

Payne, despite his 4-19, was inconsolable. He said: "I'm not afraid to cry. I didn't hold back. It was more the shock than anything. You play so well against a team like India and then lose to a team like West Indies. You don't take anything for granted and on the day they were the better team, but... it was still very disappointing."

Ateeq Javid said: "I felt a tear coming up and the other lads were very very disapppointed. All the boys after the game were really gutted, just shattered. We had put everything into it. This was our opportunity. We couldn't have worked any harder. We'd done all the preparation we could have, but it just wasn't meant to be on the day."

Robinson gave a coach's assessment of the defeat, and in truth the players must have realised they did not address a basic fundamental of cricket. "We failed because we weren't able to keep enough wickets in hand," Robinson said.

"If we had batted the overs out, we would have won. It's as simple as that. The brutal world is that if you're a batter you're paid to score runs and if you're a bowler you're paid to take wickets. Failing to do that won't get you a long-term career. I felt so sorry for them because their effort and attitude deserved more."

An amusing sideshow through the tournament was a fines kitty among the England party, a system familiar enough on any club tour, and the search for victims threw Robinson and the Leicestershire seamer Nathan Buck into the limelight together. A similarity in looks was noticed, and Robinson was fined 10 dollars, about £4.50, for "bringing his son with him on tour".

The large undisclosed kitty was not used to fund an end of tour celebration, as might normally happen. Instead the group decided to donate all of it to the Haiti disaster. That gesture typified the character of these aspiring players, who will remember the trip for the rest of their lives.

Judging from previous ICC junior world cups, not many players will progress to senior international level. For example the 2000 tournament in Sri Lanka produced only two England men -- Ian Bell, now established, and Alex Loudon, who played a solitary one-dayer.

Seam-bowlers from any country very rarely step upwards. In England's case the six tournaments have produced only three seamers who have succeeded... just about. Liam Plunkett, of Durham, and two all-rounders Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire) and Luke Wright (Sussex) all played in the 2004 event. This is a small group that Payne and Buck would like to join one day, havingt enjoyed a generally successful tournament.

The Middlesex batsman Paul Stirling rounded off his World Cup campaign in New Zealand when Ireland took an embarrassingly heavy beating from Bangladesh in the final of the Plate competition for group non-qualifiers earlier today.

Bangladesh, tipped as possible winners of the World Cup itself in Christchurch before the tournament -- they enjoyed two one-day series victories over England in 2009 -- proved too strong as expected, winning by 195 runs after rattling up 307-8 off their 50 overs at Napier in North Island.

Last week back on South Island the Irish lost to Australia in the main event's group stage by 209 runs at Queenstown, but at least the Australians have gone on to reach Saturday's final against Pakistan, who themselves edged out Bangladesh.

The Australians, captained by Mitchell Marsh, son of the former Test batsman Geoff, have included Nick Buchanan, a tall rangy seam bowler like his dad John, the former Middlesex coach. The Pakistanis can also lay claim to a famous Test player -- Usman Qadir, who hopes to emulate his leg-spin father Abdul.

As Robinson and the England party began their journey home today after three weeks of miserably cold weather, the sun came out and the wind died down for the first time. But that's another story.

ENGLAND UNDER-19
Joe Root (Yorks), Chris Dent (Gloucs), Jos Buttler (Somerset, wkt), James Vince (Hants), Jack Manuel (Worcs), Ateeq Javid (Warwicks), Michael Bates (Hants, wkt), Ben Stokes (Durham), Azeem Rafiq (Yorks, capt), Paul Best (Warwicks), Danny Briggs (Hants), Adam Ball (Kent), David Payne (Gloucs), Nathan Buck (Leics), Matthew Dunn (Surrey).

Coaches: Mark Robinson & Carl Hopkinson (Sussex)