Youngest Test debutant from first 8 Test playing nations

A Test debut is perhaps one of the most cherished moments in any cricketers' life and when it comes quite early in life, then it is an even bigger accomplishment. Over the years, the world's eight oldest Test nations have often handed debuts to cricketers at ridiculously young ages and while some of them have been successes, many have proven to be a case of premature selection.

However, the ones who happen to be the youngest debutants in the history of their country's Test history will certainly be in the record books (till someone younger comes along), irrespective of how they go on to do in their careers. So, here's a look at 8 of the youngest Test debutants for the 8 oldest Test playing nations.

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#1 Australia- Ian Craig, 17 years 239 days

Ian Craig

Australian selectors are not generally known to hand out Test debuts to teenagers, however, they did make an exception for 17-year-old right-handed batting prodigy Ian Craig. He became the youngest Australian to make his Test debut at the age of 17 years and 239 days, when he was selected to play in the first eleven against South Africa at Melbourne back in 1953.

He was also the youngest to have played for New South Wales in first-class cricket and also the youngest batsman to score a double hundred in Australian first-class cricket. Although South Africa won the game, Craig scored 53 in the 1st innings and 47 in the 2nd, to give a good account of himself. However, he could not kick on and accomplish, despite becoming Australia's youngest Test captain back in 1957. He played only 11 Tes matches, scored 2 fifties and averaged only 19.88 in his 11 Test career.

#2 England- Brian Close, 18 years 149 days

Brian Close

One of England's best-known cricketers also holds the record for being the youngest to have ever earned a Test debut for the country and it must be said that the selectors showed great foresight in giving him the platform at the age of 18 years and 149 days. Brian Close had proved himself for Yorkshire and in 1949, he was handed his first England cap in a Test match against New Zealand at Manchester.

Close scored a duck in England's only innings in a drawn game but over the course of his career, he became known as one of the most courageous cricketers in the world and a superb short leg fielder, who feared nothing. He had a long and distinguished career for Yorkshire, but his England career only lasted 22 Tests.

He made only 4 fifties but in 1976, he came back to the side to play the West Indian fast bowlers who had been terrorising the English batsman and his batting against Michael Holding (without a helmet) is still regarded as one of the most courageous displays of batting in cricket.

#3 India- Sachin Tendulkar, 16 years 205 days

Sachin Tendulkar in Pakistan, 1989

Now, this one is regarded as the most inspired selection brought about by India's team of selectors in the history of the sport and despite misgivings about selecting a 16-year-old for a tour to Pakistan, they stuck to their guns. The rest, as the cliché goes, is history, as the 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar went on to become the greatest batsman in the world since Sir Donald Bradman and certainly, the greatest in India's history.

He struggled on his Test debut and found it tough to adjust to the pace of the Pakistani bowlers, but eventually, he found his feet in international cricket. Tendulkar made 15 on his debut innings, however, over the next 24 years he became the highest run scorer in Test history and also holds the record for the highest number of Test centuries.

#4 New Zealand- Daniel Vettori, 18 years 10 days

A young Daniel Vettori

When New Zealand selected a bespectacled left-arm spinner, who had just turned 18, in a Test series at home against England in 1997, eyebrows must have been raised. However, Daniel Vettori did admirably in his very first Test by bowling 34.3 overs and picking up 3 wickets, in a game that ended in an innings defeat for his team.

Over the next 17 years, he became New Zealand's top spin bowler and indeed, one of the world's best. A tally of 362 Test wickets in 113 Test matches at an average of 34.36 is definitely up there with the very best and Vettori rightly belongs among a select group of New Zealand cricketers, who went on to become world beaters.

#5 Pakistan- Mushtaq Mohammad, 15 years 124 days

Mushtaq Mohammad

Former Pakistan batsman Hasan Raza was thought to have made his debut at the age of 14 years and 227 days, but his date of birth was in dispute and the Pakistan cricket authorities eventually withdrew his claim to that record. That makes Mushtaq Mohammad the youngest Test debutant in Pakistan's history and indeed, the youngest in cricket history, having made his debut for his country at the age of 15 years and 124 days.

He made his debut in a Test match against the West Indies at Lahore and had a poor debut in a game in which Pakistan lost by an innings. He made 14 and 4 and took no wickets. That being said, he soon found his place in the world and went on to play 57 Test matches, in a career that lasted around two decades. Mushtaq made 10 centuries at an average of 39.17 and also took 79 wickets with his leg-spin.

#6 South Africa- Paul Adams, 18 years 340 days

Paul Adams

Now, he will forever be known for his bowling action that was described by the English press as 'frog in a blender' but Paul Adams was an effective bowler and South Africa's youngest Test debutant.

The chinaman bowler was selected to play in the home series against England in 1995 and made is debut at the age of 18 years and 340 days in the 4th Test of the series at Port Elizabeth. It was a drawn game but Adams did reasonably well and picked up 4 wickets in the game.

Eventually, he became South Africa's number 1 spinner and continued to be so till the turn of the millenium. He played 45 Test matches in all and picked up 134 wickets, at an average of 32.87 in his career.

#7 Sri Lanka- Sanjeewa Weerasinghe, 17 years 189 day

Sanjeewa Weerasinghe

Sri Lanka has blooded plenty of youngsters into Test cricket over the course of their cricketing history but the youngest cricketer to have debuted for the country did not quite have a happy career at the top level. Leg-spinner Sanjeewa Weerasinghe had made his name as a schoolboy cricketer and was handed his debut in the 2nd Test of the 3 game home series against India at Colombo.

The match was a historic one for Sri Lanka as they beat India soundly but Weerasinghe did not get to bowl more than 19 overs (16 overs in the 1st innings) in the whole game. Although he did not take any wickets, he kept things tight. Despite that, it proved to be the only Test match that he played in his career and never made it to the playing eleven again.

#8 West Indies- Derek Sealy, 17 years 122 days

Derek Sealy (right)

The West Indies is a nation that has almost always believed in giving chance to youngsters in their Test side and that goes back to their early years as a Test playing entity. The youngest ever cricketer to be handed his first cap in Test cricket by the West Indies is batsman Derek Sealy. He made his debut at Bridgetown against England at the age of only 17 years and 122 days and at the time, he was the youngest player to have been handed a Test cap.

The middle-order batsman made 58 on his Test debut and although many might have expected greater things from him, it did not quite materialise. He made only two more centuries in his career that spanned 11 Tests and 9 years.