Sawston & Babraham’s Noah Thain receives England call-up for 2024 ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup

Sawston & Babraham Cricket Club’s Noah Thain has described his call-up to England’s squad for their 2024 ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup campaign in South Africa next month as a dream come true.

The tournament will see a total of 41 matches played over more than three weeks in January and February with England in a group with the hosts South Africa, West Indies and Scotland.

“It’s a great feeling and it’s a dream really to represent my country at a World Cup on such a big stage. It doesn’t happen very often and I’m lucky it’s the timing for me to show what I can do on a fairly big stage,” said all-rounder Thain.

“It’s not really nerves, it’s more excitement really. I really enjoy playing cricket otherwise I wouldn’t do it. Nerves are a massive part of the game but you’ve got to look at that as excitement of wanting to get out there and wanting to be part of the game.

“It’s so key in cricket, if you want to be getting good results then you’ve got to want to be part of the big moments on a big stage like the World Cup.”

The call-up comes after Thain represented England in many One Day International (ODI) matches, most recently against Ireland and Australia in August, but this will be his first World Cup.

He joyfully stated that his mum, dad and grandma – alongside a few friends – will be making the journey out to South Africa to watch his childhood dreams play out in front of their eyes.

A proud Thain said: “I’ve worked hard with my dad, he’s always been there and now is the time to pay him back almost so he can come out, travel with me and watch me in different countries.

“I think I’ve played 12 One Day Internationals and I’ve understood what I need to do to get the best game out of me in terms of preparation, what I do on the pitch and understanding what my strengths are in one day cricket.

“The boys have been great, we’ve come together very quickly because of the short amount of time we’ve had together. We’ve got strong friendships that will last past this. It’s been a great experience.”

England will kick-start their World Cup campaign with a crunch tie against Scotland on Saturday, January 20 at JB Marks Oval, which has a capacity of 18,000.

This comes before facing South Africa three days later (January 23) and then West Indies three days after that (January 26).

“Yeah I’m absolutely buzzing. We had a good month in India preparing and playing some good cricket,” said Thain.

“We’re all now understanding our roles a bit better so I think we’re coming together very nicely for this campaign.

“Of course we will be there to win. I feel like personally I had a good runof form in India and I feel ready to take on some other countries now. I think as a team obviously we’re preparing to win and I think we put ourselves in a good position to.”