By Matthew Allen

England Under-19 savour the big time at Dhaka's National Stadium

England's Under-19 cricketers have been enjoying a successful World Cup in Bangladesh, reaching the semi-finals of the tournament.

Various England Under-19 sides have performed well in the competition in the past, with the class of 1998 going all the way to take the trophy.

But a glance at the names of those who took part reveals that playing well at this level is no guarantee of success as a full international in the Test or limited-overs arena.

Compare the fortunes of two players from the 1998 Cup winning side.

Robert Key has played Test cricket and is still on the fringes of the England side, but Giles Hayward was released by Sussex at the end of the 2000 season after playing a handful of matches.

At that age you don't have any fear of failure; it's all new to you and there's no real expectation on you Warren Hegg

Lancashire captain Warren Hegg, who won two Test caps for England, believes his experience in the 1988 Under-19 World Cup gave him a good start in the game.

"At 19 you can only get better by playing against the best players in the world," he told BBC Sport

"It just goes to show that some 90% of the players who took part in the 1988 World Cup have gone on to play first-class cricket."

"Playing away from home, in a different climate, in a different part of the world, under different conditions, standing on your own two feet can only be good grounding for your future game.

"You're playing in a tournament and playing cricket every third day. As a 19-year-old kid it's tough to play mental cricket.

"If you want to make a career out of professional cricket, you are on the road a hell of a lot and playing every other day, so that helps."

PREVIOUS ENGLAND U19 SQUADS 1987/88 in Australia: - Semi-finalists Hero: Michael Atherton Zero: Harvey Trump (Somst) 1997/98 in Australia: - Winners Hero: Robert Key (above) Zero: Giles Hayward (Sussex) 1999/2000 in Sri Lanka: - Second round Hero: Ian Bell Zero: Nick Warren (Warks) 2001/02 in New Zealand: - Second round Hero: Bilal Shafayat Zero: Chris Gilbert (Yorkshire)

But Hegg counsels that current England Under-19 captain Alastair Cook, who has starred in this year's tournament with two centuries, and the other talented players in the squad have a long way to go yet.

For every Michael Atherton or Nasser Hussain who has gone on to enjoy a long Test career, there are plenty more who do not make the full international grade - and some who struggle even in the county game.

"There's a hell of a lot of difference between playing Under-19 and first class cricket," Hegg says.

"You're still playing schoolboy cricket and it's not until you've had the grounding of first-class and Test cricket that you realise that the step up is mammoth.

"If it came to a choice of one of my [Lancashire] players playing first-class cricket against first-class players or playing Under-19 Tests then I'd always go for the first-class game.

"Once you get into the first class set-up you're far from making it as a professional cricketer.

"You've just got to put the yards in and work really hard on every aspect of your game - your fitness, technical and mental side of it to reach the highest level."