At the conclusion of the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Toronto on Sunday night, there were a number of acknowledgments made and people recognized for contributions made throughout the two-week event at an end of tournament banquet. However, no greater contribution was made to any team than USA's Ryan Corns.

By Peter Della Penna

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At the conclusion of the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Toronto on Sunday night, there were a number of acknowledgments made and people recognized for contributions they made throughout the two-week event at an end of tournament banquet. However, no greater contribution was made to any team than USA’s Ryan Corns.
 

As a result, he was recognized by the ICC as the Player of the Tournament, the only individual honor handed out to a player on the night. As a tremendous ovation filled the room from all teams and officials, Corns walked up to the stage to receive a handsome trophy. 

Picture (Left): Ryan Corns in action at U19 Qualifier.  Courtesy of ICC/Bryan Vandenburgh. 

“To be honest, I thought I had a bit of a chance of maybe getting the Best All-rounder Award, but when I saw that there was only the Player of the Tournament, I didn’t think I stood a chance,” said Corns. “I thought, along with all the teammates, that Ireland’s Paul Stirling would get the award. When I heard my name being called out, my heart just about stopped because it was totally unexpected. But I can’t take all the credit. If it wasn’t for Team USA, and all the coaching staff, this would never have happened.”

Votes were tabulated based on umpire nominations for Man of the Match awards from each game played in the tournament. Even though Stirling finished as the highest run scorer in the tournament with 423 runs in eight innings including two centuries for the tournament champions Ireland, he had great support from a team that had outstanding depth and skill all around him. Corns was the heart and soul of USA’s squad and their qualification for the ICC U-19 World Cup in New Zealand next January was largely due to his all-round contributions. He was named Man of the Match in each of USA’s first three matches after top scoring in victories over Vanuatu, Ireland and Uganda.

“Corns is our main batsman right now,” said USA U-19 captain Shiva Vashishat after the match against Uganda. “He’s been coming through for us and his bowling helps us in the end a lot.”

His best performance came against the Irish squad, who suffered their only defeat of the tournament at the hands of the Americans. He entered with the score at 6 for 1, but went on to build a 71-run second-wicket partnership with Henry Wardley and an 89-run fourth-wicket stand with captain Shiva Vashishat. Corns finished with 86 runs in USA’s total of 217 for 6 before being run out late in the innings. He then took two wickets at the end to help USA seal an impressive 42-run win.

“My best memory from this tournament was scoring 86 against tournament champions Ireland, and then going on to beat them,” said Corns.

Picture (Right): Ryan Corns receiving his award.  Courtesy of ICC/Bryan Vandenburgh.

Corns was the only player in the tournament to finish in the top ten for both runs scored and wickets taken. He scored 230 runs in eight innings at an average of 28.75 to lead USA in both categories and took 13 wickets, second most on the USA squad, with a best of 3 for 7 against Vanuatu. He also had the sixth best bowling average in the tournament at 13.53. 

Corns has now established himself as one of the rising stars of not only USA cricket, but international cricket as well. He will definitely be a player that teams from full-member nations will be targeting when the ICC U-19 World Cup begins four months from now on January 16.

Corns knows he still has a lot of preparation to do before then to get ready for the event.  “I am going to work even harder on my fitness, but I think this is something that everyone needs to work on because to be quite honest, we were one of the least fit sides,” said Corns. “But I also need to work on mental toughness because the games in the World Cup are not exactly going to be a walk in the park.”