‘As aggressive as possible’: How ‘The Cartel’ bowled Australia’s U19s to World Cup glory

With their emphatic victory in the Under-19 World Cup final, Australia’s imposing quartet of teenage fast bowlers inflicted a pyschological blow against India’s next generation of batting stars.

After making 7-253 from their 50 overs, Australia won by 79 runs in Benoni, South Africa on Sunday after bowling India out for just 174.

Player of the match Mahli Beardman, 18, who claimed 3-15, said the Australians won “by being as aggressive and attacking as possible.”

“We knew that they were going to struggle with the short ball and anything back of a length with a little bit of bounce and carry,” said Beardman, who was mentored by the great Dennis Lillee and has already played a one-day match for Western Australia.

“So for me, I was just trying to smash the top of the stumps and bring the stumps into play if one was going to keep low and shoot through, and then to use my bumper, making sure I can try and unsettle them as much as possible.”

The team’s pace battery – Beardman, Callum Vidler, Charlie Anderson and Tom Straker – call themselves the “Cartel”. Straker, nicknamed “Monster Truck” stands at 195 cm.

Australia celebrate winning the under-19 men’s World Cup after beating India in South Africa.Credit: AP

“Charlie Anderson is a wizard up front,” said Beardman. “He goes both ways [swinging the ball]. He’s a very skillful bowler. Cal’s got great ball speed and can swing the ball, so that’s always amazing, and then Straker comes in and bashes a length and doesn’t miss at all. He can settle in for ten overs and put the ball on a coin, so that’s awesome to have.

“And then for me, that just allows me to run in and try and be aggressive and bash the wicket and use my bumper with that older ball.”

Beardman said the quartet used their aggressive tactics as a unit throughout the tournament.

“To the subcontinental teams for sure,” Beardman said from South Africa on Monday evening. “They struggle pulling the ball off their face and lose control of the shot. We knew that, and we saw in South Africa early on that they struggled against the short ball, so to us that was a pretty obvious decision to go short.”

After Sunday’s match Beardman said: “Standing alongside Cal and the rest of the Cartel, it’s a dream come true – I feel super privileged.”

The victory also highlighted the diversifying nature of the game in Australia, with the highest scorer in the final a Sikh from Punjab.

After a disappointing tournament, the highly talented Harjas Singh made 55 in 64 balls with three fours and three sixes in an even team batting performance.

Harjas Singh celebrates his 50 against India.Credit: Getty

“He’s got great natural ability,” said Cricket NSW pathways manager Nic Bills, a former state fast bowler who has watched Harjas come through NSW underage state programs for six years. He was one of six NSW players in the team for the final.

“He can play 360 [degrees], plays off the front and back foot really well and has great ball-striking ability. He’s one of those guys I have no doubt infuriates his coaches by finding ways to get himself out with what some consider dumb shots, but it’s him just trying to take the game on.”

Harjas moved to Sydney as a child with his parents, who both have a sporting pedigree. His father, Inderjit, was a Punjab state boxing champion and mother Avinder a state-level long jumper. The 2021 census recorded almost 800,000 migrants with an Indian background, and India remains the leading country for migration to Australia.

A left-handed batsman, Harjas began playing cricket right-handed with a wooden plank and a tennis ball.

“As a young kid batting right-handed in the backyard, I was in danger of breaking the glass windows, which were close by on the leg side,” he told Indian Link two years ago. “So, I started batting left-handed to avoid that potential crisis. And I’ve stuck to it! I bowl right-arm medium pacers, though, and throw right-handed.”

The U19s’ victory was the third time in eight months an Australian men’s side has beaten India in an International Cricket Council event after Pat Cummins’ team won the World Test Championship and World Cup last year.

It was the fourth time Australia have won the men’s U19 tournament, and the first since 2010 when Josh Hazlewood helped Mitch Marsh’s side lift the crown in New Zealand.

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