Players feel the heat in opening ceremony

For all practical purposes the Under-19 World Cup began for the teams the moment they landed in Kuala Lumpur. The build-up to the first round of matches has been hectic: apart from practice sessions and warm-up matches, the teams have had to attend seminars on anti-corruption and anti-doping, go for photo shoots, do introduction videos for television, sign miniature bats for sponsors, and meet the competition. England and India even found time to attend a charity function. In short, everything has been new and most of the players are soaking it all in.

However, the tournament was officially opened on Friday during a short ceremony at the Kinrara Cricket Academy and the teenagers had to shed their jerseys and shorts and get spruced up. You couldn’t help but feel for them as they stood in single file on the field, looking spiffy but sweaty in their blazers, trousers and boots. Not all of them came completely formally dressed though: Bermuda beat some of the heat by wearing bright red Bermuda shorts with their blazers, while South Africa might not have been the smartest in their collared t-shirts but they certainly looked more comfortable.

The media contingent had grown considerably and there were several local journalists, from print and television, as well as one from Papua New Guinea. The families of the players also formed a sizable section of the crowd. The families of Bermudian players Rodney Trott and Malachi Jones were here, as well as several parents of the Australian and Ireland teams, who announced their presence by applauding loudly when their teams walked out. There were loud cheers for the local Malaysian team and when Pakistan marched out, the claps were almost in respect for the champions of 2004 and 2006.

The event began with a troupe of drummers performing before a para-glider swooped into the ground, carrying the ICC and Malaysian flags, which he handed over to ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed and P Krishnaswamy, the chairman of the organizing committee of the World Cup. There were a few speeches from Speed, the president of the Malaysian Cricket Board Tunku Tan Sri Imran. There was a curious performance by a troupe of dancers, moving to Justin Timberlake’s Sexyback, which didn’t quite fit in with the overall theme, but the players, who had been growing visibly restless in the sun, milled around and captured it all on camera.

As everyone moved towards the lunch that awaited there was a lot of mingling, and several families and players spent time taking photographs. For most this will be a once in a lifetime experience and, as Speed put it succinctly, they were trying to enjoy every minute of it.