Generation Next's chance to step up

The Sunway Pyramid hotel located a little outside Kuala Lumpur is a teenagers' paradise. There's a massive mall, countless shopping options, an ice-skating rink, a swimming pool that tries to resemble a cavern, numerous restaurants in each direction and plenty of pretty women. One could spend days exploring the place, diving into one distraction after another. But for 240 of the hotel's residents - participants at the Under-19 World Cup - this is where they will go from being boys to being men as they take the first big step in their cricket careers.

Amid the glare of the international spotlight and aura that comes with an ICC competition, it's easy to forget the players are still in their teens. Most of them have never addressed a press conference: Wayne Parnell and Prince Masvaure, the captains of South Africa and Zimbabwe, are affable and cheerful boys but grew reserved when a microphone was stuck in their face, answering questions about pressure, aspirations and rival teams. Most of the players didn't know the finer points of anti-corruption and anti-doping until they attended extensive educational sessions organised by the ICC in the week ahead of the U-19 World Cup.

The challenges and goals facing the 16 teams - 10 Full-member countries and six Associates - are varied and while there are some that are common across teams, there are others that are unique to teams: a result of circumstances in their respective countries.

The senior teams in Australia, India and New Zealand are going through transitions. Several Australian and New Zealand players have retired over the last year and while the Australian under-19 cricketers will use this break to try and make their state sides, which is the first step on a long and hard road to the national side, for New Zealand, given the relatively small talent pool, a strong performance in Malaysia could fast track a players state and international career: Tim Southee, the U-19 fast bowler who made his Twenty20 international debut against England recently is tipped as a future prospect.

India, too, have had a change of guard in the one-day team with a rapid influx of cricketers in their early twenties. Several of their U-19 cricketers already play for their states they know that bringing the World Cup home could do for them what it did for the careers of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, who were part of the victory in 2000.

While most of the attention will be centred round the stronger sides - Pakistan won the last two tournaments, West Indies won both of their warm-ups against Australia and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh have traditionally been strong on the U-19 circuit - the Associate nations are playing for extremely valuable stakes. Take the hosts Malaysia for instance: cricket isn't a widespread or popular sport in their country and the pool of cricketers is extremely small. A few wins at home during the U-19 World Cup could have a profound influence on schoolchildren to take up the game. It's pretty much the same story for the other associates like Papua New Guinea, Bermuda, Nepal and Namibia. For the boys from Ireland, one of whom - Paul Sterling - has already been called to the national squad, a contract with an English county could be the reward for an impressive showing.

	This tournament could also be a scouting opportunity for the new Indian Twenty20 leagues - the IPL and the ICL - both of which have placed an emphasis of developing young cricketers. Who knows, a young star from Nepal might catch the eye of someone running a Twenty20 team and a future contract

This tournament could also be a scouting opportunity for the new Indian Twenty20 leagues - the IPL and the ICL - both of which have placed an emphasis of developing young cricketers. Who knows, a young star from Nepal might catch the eye of someone running a Twenty20 team and a future contract could induce the player to stick with cricket even after his age-group days are over.

The reality, however, is that for the majority of the 240 players, from Full-Members and Associates alike, this is as big as the stage will get. Most will study further and perhaps take up a lucrative job to secure their future, others will persist with cricket but realise that their dreams of playing for their country are not going to materialise. But there will be a precious few who go on - irrespective of whether they come good or not in the tournament - to forge successful international careers.

Nothing captures the imagination of fans like a teenage upstart mixing it with the men: Boris Becker, Pele and Sachin Tendulkar became icons because they did precisely that. Over the next fortnight, countries and cricket leagues will try and identify talent, hoping to catch the fry before they become fish.

Will the next generation be ready?