From Mohammad Nabi's son to Naseem Shah's brother, Jeremy Coney's grandson, and Devon Smith's nephew, the 15th Under-19 Men's World Cup in South Africa features plenty of players for whom, cricket, runs in the family.
Afghanistan: Hassan Eisakhil, Usman Khan Shinwari, Jamshid Zadran
Hassan Eisakhil was just shy of turning three on April 19, 2009, when his father played Afghanistan's first international match. Mohammad Nabi put in a Player-of-the-Match performance to kickstart his country's incredible journey at the highest level. Fourteen years later, Nabi's son Eisakhil is the opening bat for the Afghanistan U-19 side, while Nabi senior is the national team's most capped player by a distance.
Rashid Khan is just as instrumental in Afghanistan's success story as Nabi, and another Rashid-Nabi partnership is set to feature for them at the Under-19 World Cup. While Nabi's son is one-half of the opening pair, Rashid's nephew - Usman Khan Shinwari - is likely to be the other. Rashid himself had featured in the 2016 edition of the U-19 World Cup and finished as his side's leading wicket taker.
In Rashid's absence due to injury, Ibrahim Zadran was Afghanistan's T20I captain for the series against India. Ibrahim and Mujeeb Ur Rahman's cousin, Jamshid Zadran, is the first left-hand bat from the family, whose ties to cricket goes back a generation with uncle Noor Ali Zadran's 74 international caps. Jamshid's cousin, Haroon Zadran, plays rugby for Afghanistan as well.
England: Luc Benkenstein, Haydon Mustard, Jaydn Denly, Charlie Allison and Farhan Ahmed
Like the Zadrans, the Benkenstein family has had sport in their genes across generations. Martin Benkenstein represented Rhodesia and Natal in the 1970s. Of his three sons who also played first-class cricket for Natal, only the youngest went on to play internationals. Dale Benkenstein was once earmarked as Hansie Cronje's successor for his leadership skills but eventually played only 23 matches for South Africa. After going Kolpak and then acquiring a British passport in 2008, Benkenstein, now a seasoned coach with stints at Hampshire, Gloucestershire and currently Lancashire, led Durham to their first county championship title in 2008. Wicketkeeper Phil Mustard, who was also part of that Durham squad, would end up playing ten ODIs and two T20Is for England.
Now Mustard's son Haydon has also taken up the wicket-keeping gloves, while Benkenstein's son Luc is the vice-captain, having chosen to play for England over South Africa at the U-19 World Cup. A leg-spinning allrounder, Luc has already played 11 List A games for Essex, for whom he has batted at No. 3. Benkenstein will have Essex team-mate Charlie Allison, whose brother Ben also plays for Essex, for company.
Jaydn Denly is likely to open the batting for England at the U-19 World Cup, just like his uncle Joe did in 44 international appearances across formats. As a left-arm orthodox spinner, Denly tends to bowl first change as well.
In addition to Denly and Benkenstein, England also have the offspin of 15-year-old Farhan Ahmed, who turns the ball the other way than his 19-year-old brother Rehan, who featured in the 2022 U-19 World Cup. The Ahmed family will have to divide their attention between South Africa and India, where Rehan faces his biggest challenge with the upcoming five-Test series in India.
India: Musheer Khan
The Khan family has a similar interest in cricket being played in India and South Africa this month. Sarfaraz Khan, fresh off a blazing 96 against the touring England Lions, first showcased his insatiable appetite for runs at the 2016 U-19 World Cup, when he slammed a record seven half-centuries including one in the final against West Indies. His brother Musheer Khan, in the mould of Sarfaraz but with a strong all-round power game, could well be India's player to watch at this tournament. Capable of batting anywhere in the top 6, Musheer is also a genuine allrounder who bowls left-arm spin.
Bangladesh: Jishan Alam
Musheer and India open their campaign against Bangladesh on January 20: a rematch of the recent U-19 Asia Cup semi-final in Dubai, where Bangladesh upset India and went on to clinch the title. Their opening batter is Jishan Alam, son of former Bangladesh batter and National Cricket League coach Jahangir Alam, who also batted at the top of the order in three ODIs between 1997 and 1999.
Pakistan: Ubaid Shah
While shades of Sarfaraz the batter are certain to be seen in Musheer, Pakistan quick Ubaid Shah might also remind us of his brother Naseem. Yet another tearaway quick from Lower Dir, Ubaid's cricket journey is similar to Naseem's. He practiced bowling with a tape ball and focused on bowling fast. On what should be helpful pitches for pace in South Africa, he could well make his mark as the next fast bowling sensation from Pakistan.
New Zealand: Tom Jones, Zac Cumming, Matt Rowe
It was in Pakistan in 1984 that Jeremy Coney first led New Zealand in Test cricket. He would go on to be remembered as one of New Zealand's most astute captains. Four decades on, Coney's grandson Tom Jones is New Zealand's vice captain and opening batter at the U-19 World Cup.
Jones' team-mate, leg-spinning allrounder Zac Cumming, was born in 2005 - the same year that his father Craig played the first of his 24 internationals as a gritty opening batter for New Zealand.
Fast bowler Matt Rowe will likely open the bowling for New Zealand, just like his cousin Hannah, who's played 93 internationals for the White Ferns.
Scotland: Ibrahim Faisal, Qasim Khan and Uzair Ahmad
While the Rowes from New Zealand are a rare cousin-combination across men's and women's cricket, the Faisals from Scotland have twins in national colours.
Maryam Faisal played for Scotland at the inaugural U-19 Women's T20 World Cup this time last year in South Africa and made her international debut in October. Her twin brother, seam-bowling allrounder Ibrahim, is part of the Scotland squad at the 2024 U-19 Men's World Cup. The Faisals have cricketing roots going back 60 years, when their grandfather Naushad Ali became Pakistan's 50th Test player in 1965.
Offspinner Qasim Khan and allrounder Uzair Ahmed, cousins in Scotland's squad, come from a family that has three other cousins who have played international cricket - Majid Haq, Hamza Tahir and wicketkeeper Omer Hussain.
Ireland: Ryan Hunter, Gavin Roulston, Scott Macbeth and James West
Like the Faisals from Scotland, the Hunters from Ireland will also have representation at two U-19 World Cups in the span of a year. Wicketkeeper Amy Hunter captained Ireland in the women's tournament in 2023 and has already played 44 internationals, while her cousin Ryan will keep wicket and is likely to open the batting for Ireland at the upcoming men's competition.
Left-hand batter Gavin Roulston will bat at No. 3 for Ireland; his aunt Julie Logue played 19 ODIs for Ireland from 1988 to 1996. Offspinner Scott Macbeth also comes from a family with cricket pedigree: his brother Ryan plays first-class cricket for North West Warriors while their great uncle Roy Torrens was one of Cricket Ireland's most influential figures as player, selector, administrator, and team manager during their memorable 2007 World Cup campaign and their subsequent qualification to three T20 World Cups in 2009, 2010 & 2012.
Former left-arm spinner Regan West played 10 ODIs and 5 T20Is for Ireland in that period. All his T20I appearances were at the 2009 World Cup, where he took three wickets: Mushfiqur Rahim, Younis Khan and Gautam Gambhir. His son James West, a leg-spin allrounder, is part of Ireland's U-19 World Cup squad.
Namibia: Zacheo van Vuuren
In 2003, Namibia's Rudi Van Vuuren took his country's maiden five-wicket haul at the ODI World Cup, against England, and followed up with the wickets of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar in Pietermaritzburg. Dr Van Vuuren, now a practicing physician, is also the only man to represent his nation at both the cricket and rugby World Cups. Fair to say his son, Zacheo, had enough career options to choose from. As an allrounder for Namibia, Van Vuuren junior could well make his U-19 World Cup debut at the same ground as his father did in 2003, in Kimberley, when Namibia open their campaign against Australia.
Zimbabwe: Matthew Schonken
While Van Vuuren senior had plenty of firsts in his short cricket career, Kevin Arnott had a significant one as well. On October 18, 1992, Arnott faced Zimbabwe's first ball in Test cricket from Kapil Dev in Harare. Cricket had been in his family for a generation though, with his father Don playing 28 matches for Rhodesia. Don's nephew and Kevin's cousin, leg-spin allrounder Matthew Schnoken, will captain Zimbabwe at the 2024 U-19 World Cup.
USA: Aarin Nadkarni
Like Kevin Arnott did for Zimbabwe in Tests, Sushil Nadkarni faced USA's first ball in T20Is during the 2010 ICC World T20 qualifier. Nadkarni's son, Aarin, is a fast bowler for the USA U-19 WC side.
West Indies: Devonie Joseph
Devonie Joseph, the West Indies wicketkeeper at the U-19 World Cup, is the nephew of former batter Devon Smith, who played 96 internationals between 2003 and 2018. Joseph is a left-handed power hitter who likens his batting style to Nicholas Pooran.