Emerging Players to Watch Under 21: Men Part 2

Charlie Peet
Scotland
Left-arm orthodox
17

Ever taken 7-12 off ten overs? In a one-day game? Charlie Peet can fill you in on the feeling after tearing Jersey apart U19 World Cup qualifying last year. Peet and fellow left-arm orthodox spinner Jamie Cairns combined for figures of 9-39 (17.2), with the tenth wicket a run out.

A product of The Grange Cricket Club, Peet’s action is a little unconventional with arms and legs flailing, but the results speak for themselves. Accurate, economic and suffocating opposing players, Peet gives no width for opponents to work with.

For Peet, and Jamie Cairns in part one, it’s not the ability that will hold back the pair but rather competition for places. Hamza Tahir and Mark Watt already have spots locked up in the senior team, and banging down the door will be difficult.

Janak Prakash
Singapore
Right-hand batsman
Right-arm medium-fast
19

With all the talk of batting and bowling, it was a piece of Prakash fielding that sent shock waves through emerging cricket circles, arguably changing the course of cricket in Singapore.

In Singapore’s de facto final against Nepal in the T20 World Cup Asia Region qualifier, Prakash at long-off leapt, reached behind himself to pluck the ball out of the air, and contoured his body to stay in the field of play to complete the catch to dismiss Sharad Vesawkar. Vesawkar trudged off the field, and Nepal, bereft of belief, crumbled to a 82-run defeat.

Classed as medium pace by some sites, Prakash deserves an upgrade after quicker spells in the T20 World Cup Qualifiers, where he consistently pushed the 135kph mark. Moving through the crease with energy, his action bears similarities to the styles of Javagal Srinath and James Anderson. With the bat, Prakash is deployed as a late-innings hitter, using his leverage to make hay. Not out in five of his thirteen innings in T20I, Prakash is perceived as a finisher despite his age.

Nasrulla Rana
Hong Kong
Right-arm medium-fast
17

The second Hong Kong player in the group, Nasrulla Rana is one of the quickest bowlers in the young crop of Associate talent. Consistently in the 130kph+ region, Rana charges in but keeps to a traditional side-on action, looking through the crook in his left arm for his accuracy. When side-by-side, there are a number of similarities to another 17-year-old: Pakistan’s Naseem Shah.

Naseem and Nasrulla parallels can also be made in their young international careers. Both have reached the highs of representing their respective countries so young, though both have experienced the disappointment of being left out of the team weeks after bursting onto the scene. For Nasrulla, he made his T20I debut in the Oman Pentangular series in October last year, taking three wickets in three matches, and ultimately doing enough for a spot in Hong Kong’s World Cup Qualifier squad in UAE. Only Aizaz Khan took more wickets in the Qualifier, though a wicketless series against Malaysia in February meant he was overlooked for the ACC Eastern Region T20 in March.

Despite the blip in form, the national team experiences will be invaluable in Nasrulla’s development.