The story of the photo by Ian Johnston that epitomizes all that is good about cricket. Harry Tector consoling Ihtisham Malik at the U19 World Cup Qualifiers in Jersey.

All at CricketEurope would tell you that our most enjoyable times have been spent in Tournament coverage and that of Youth cricket in particular.

The presence of a band of parents following their offspring and, until recently at least, a more relaxed attitude to the isolationist diktats of ICC et al. made it all a joy to follow.

Now if you think that ICC have never been able to come up with a formula for the Cricket World Cup that meets with universal approval, think U19 World Cup and you have it in Spades!

The qualifying route to the U19 World Cup has been ‘simplified’ (should that read 'made cheaper to run') by assigning 1 qualifier to each of the ICC ‘Regions’ - Europe, Asia, The Americas, Africa and East Asia/Pacific.

This system takes no account of the relative strengths both numerically and in terms of playing standard of the competing nations and the biggest losers in this are the European sides, in which I include Ireland.

When money was seemingly less important to ICC there was a ‘Global Qualifier’ where the top two in each region competed for four or even six places in the World Cup itself, and those who made it to the finals were indeed the strongest of the ‘lesser nations’.

In recent years however the European Qualifier has increasingly become a ‘winner take all’ shoot-out between Ireland and Scotland with a varied supporting cast. I say that with no disrespect to The Netherlands, Jersey and Denmark who each would more than hold their own, or indeed win a regional tournament in East/Asia Pacific, The Americas and possibly even Africa!

In 2017 the European Tournament held in Jersey was certainly one of the best, at least in terms of the drama it produced. The chosen format was one of four teams - Ireland, Scotland, Denmark and hosts Jersey with each team playing the others twice.

In Ireland’s first meeting with Scotland at what is Jersey’s premier venue, Farmer’s CC, Jim Perchard’s personal patch seemed to be to the Scots liking as they moved to 170 without loss! And it took a battling performance by the Irish to see them claw their way back into the game by restricting the Scots total to 231/6.

The Scottish attack was led by left arm seamer Ihtisham Malik and his early wickets saw Ireland slump to 106/5 although his ‘enthusiasm’ earned him a reprimand from the umpires and an entry in the Irish book of IOUs.

The Irish reply was in danger of petering out and coming up short but the arrival of Neil Rock at the crease served to spur Graham Kennedy into a higher gear, together they pushed the total on and with Josh Little adding the final flourishes Ireland got over the line by two wickets with 2 balls to spare in a back-from-the-dead win.

If that was tough watching for all concerned what was to follow was an even bigger nail-biter when the stakes were highest.

The second match versus Scotland was at Grainville - scene of Barry’s ‘Perfect Ten’ pics and a venue unlikely to produce a run-fest at the best of times. At 50/6 it was a long way back for the Irish and the Scots sensed a win that would see them qualifying for the World Cup on NRR.

Amidst the carnage Harry Tector was playing a captain’s knock and somehow kept the score ticking over. Then at 94/9 he top-edged a sweep to mid wicket standing on the circle - 94 all out? The simplest of catches was dropped and another 14 precious runs were added before Harry was last out for 55 - the only score in double figures!

The Scottish reply was a hesitant one - torn between going hard or building steadily they too were faltering at 67/5. A 6th wicket partnership took the total to 94 and at 98 for 6 needing only eleven to win one could have been forgiven for thinking the worst, but the game was to turn in the space of a few deliveries.

Three wickets fell without addition as in the next three overs, first Aaron Cawley had top scorer Rory Johnston caught behind. In the next, Ian Anders fielding as a substitute, held a gully catch off Josh Little and Cawley had Brown lbw first ball in the third.

So still only eleven runs to win but now with only one wicket left. Enter Ihtisham Malik no doubt greeted warmly by the Ireland posse of fielders. A flash of aggression and a boundary brought things down to a one-shot margin.

Little to Malik and a lofted drive for glory only found the safe hands of Neil Rock at long-off.

Cue a parental pitch invasion and wild celebrations from the Irish.

Meanwhile as the umpires started to remove the stumps the two Scottish batsmen were slumped on the ground and when Ihtisham rose he walked off in the opposite direction to the clubhouse, distraught, and sank to his knees. 

 Amidst all the celebrations I noticed Harry Tector making his way to where Ihtishan was sitting alone - I don’t know what was being said but I found myself snapping away as the scene unfolded into what was the ICC’s clichéd hashtag at that time - ‘#SpiritOfCricket’

Gradually more Irish players joined them and I was reminded of the phrase that was always quoted at the old U19 International Youth Tournament by whoever was making the closing speech - “Cricket is a game that turns Boys into Men and Men into Gentlemen.”

Although in Harry’s case I think he was there already.