Teenage Sangha continues impressive rise

Jason Sangha joined elite company in January after dominating for Australia in an Under-19s youth ODI in Dubai against the Pakistani side.

Sangha plundered 13 fours and two sixes on his way to a match-winning 102 in his first-ever match at the level.

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More astonishing than the feat is the company he keeps in that elite group of 22 players who lay claim to the record of a hundred on youth One-Day International debut.

Beginning with former England captain Mike Gatting, who scored 128 in the first-ever Youth ODI in 1978, and ending with 16-year-old Sangha, the names in between include Shane Watson, AB de Villiers, Shikhar Dhawan and the late Phillip Hughes.

Sangha is the youngest of that group – by an incredible two years.

The achievements have resulted in the schoolboy being selected in Cricket Australia’s PRO Camp, to be run this week under the watchful eyes of the National Youth Selection Panel, headed by Greg Chappell.

States will have the opportunity to rookie-list two players each, with New South Wales having first option to recruit Sangha before other states swoop in on the talented top-order player.

But the classy right-handed batsman from Newcastle simply takes the runs and accolades in his stride, unflustered by the media attention and tags as the ‘next big thing’.

The youngest member picked in Australia’s recent 21-man Under 19 World Cup squad, Sangha and his counterparts ultimately never competed in the ICC event due to Cricket Australia's concerns regarding security in Bangladesh.

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But that disappointment didn’t slow Sangha, who return to Australia his debut hundred to debut in Sydney’s Premier Grade with Randwick-Petersham, scoring an unbeaten half-century at better than a run-a-ball.

So impressed were the state selectors with Sangha’s rapid progress from the School Sports Australia 15 and Under tournament to First Grade cricket in the span of eight months, they selected him for a Toyota Futures League game.

Sangha was the youngest player in 91 years to debut for the New South Wales Second XI, surpassing the legendary Doug Walters by 165 days and falling 14 days short of Archie Jackson's mark.

Speaking last December, Sangha was quick to play down the possibilities of stepping up and earning selection for his state in national competitions.

"Right now I'm not trying to think about contracts or anything," he told cricket.com.au. "On the outside it is nice that people are saying nice things and writing about you.

"If I keep focused then hopefully good things will come.".

But a positive showing in the PRO Camp at Cricket Australia’s Bupa National Cricket Centre this week will guarantee one thing – states will be champing at the bit for a slice of the ‘next big thing’.

CA’s PRO Camp will run from 22-24 March, you can catch the updates and player interviews at cricket.com.au.