Azeem Rafiq
For a young man of 21, Rafiq has worryingly twice made the headlines for the wrong reasons, firstly when Yorkshire selected him for their T20 side without realising he was ineligable, and then three years later when a twitter outburst when he was dropped from the England U19 side (Twitter - English cricket's best friend). However, Rafiq is a highly talented off-spinner who can both bat and field to a better than average standard.
Where Rafiq might make progress is through both personality and opportunity. He was England U19 captain, he has captained Yorkshire last season and is seen to have long term leadershi potential. The opportunity may come as there are growing concerns about Graeme Swann's elbow, and with the next T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, and the next 50 over World Cup not until 2015, England may look to blood a young spinner, particularly one who could function as an international number seven.
Quinton de Kock
When you lose one of the finest wicketkeepers to have played Test cricket to a sudden career ending injury, and the domestic replacements seem uninspiring and you feel forced to load one of your best batters and vice-captain with keeping in all three formats, you would probably be quite excited if a young 20 year old genuine wicketkeeper batsman suddenly burst through.
South Africa are excited and on the minimal evidence so far, they have good reason to be. First Class runs have come easy, as did runs in the under-19 World Cup, before de Kock announced himself with mature and impressive performances in the T20 Champions League. He played all three T20's against New Zealand and with South Africa having to manage AB de Villiers workload, more caps could come, and he could force his way into the Test team.
Meg Lanning
Lanning's problem is not one of making her way into the Australia side - at the age of 20 she is already regarded as their best batter. Her problem is one of notoriety, with the Aussie women's cricket side remaining unknown in their own country. This could change this year with both a women's World Cup, and a women's Ashes series. Lanning will open for Australia in all three forms of the game and be the key wicket for England to get.
As for 2012, Lanning was an integral part of the Aussie side that won the World T20 (3rd highest run scorer in the competition). In the last two months she's broken the record for the highest score in Aussie domestic cricket, before in four games against New Zealand she scored 300 runs off 209 balls, including the fastest ever hundred by a woman in an ODI and the third fastest by someone of either gender.
Anamul Haque
Bangladesh have been playing Test cricket for a decade now, and whilst sides should be given a long settling period, now is the time that they should be producing youngsters that can consistently produce on the international stage. They will be hoping that Anamul Haque will be one of the first.
He comes with a big reputation. He has a reputation for scoring big runs, and was way ahead of all other batters at the Under-19 World Cup. The hype, particularly in a country starved of success with a highly excitable fanbase, built quickly. He made his ODI debut against West Indies, and scored a match winning 100 in the second game, a series Bangladesh ended up winning. For Haque, who will certainly play all three formats, he must score runs, he must learn quickly and he must help Bangladesh to win games.
Lahiru Madushanka
This is very, very speculative and based entirely on promising performances at the under-19 World Cup, but sometimes it's the player with the greater opportunity than the player with greater talent that makes waves.
Sri Lankan cricket is struggling at the minute, with financial issues at board level and a major loss of talent either having happened with Muralitharan and Malinga, or about the happen with the pending retirement of Jaywardene, with Sangakarra and Dilshan not far behind. In particular, Sri Lanka are without any notorious fast bowlers (with the exception of white ball specialist Malinga). Maybe this will be the year they take a risk and go with the 20 year old Nondescripts bowler.
Ajinkya Rahane
If ever a player summed the confused state of the Indian selectors then Ajinkya "Jinx" Rahane is the problem in a nutshell. Whilst Gambhir and Sehwag have muddled their way through the past three years, Rahane has scored run after run for Mumbai in Indian domestic cricket. Blessed with a calm temperament, nigh on perfect technique, and a habit of scoring big, Rahane is Dravid-incarnate.
Rahane has been given chances in ODI's and T20's, with limited success, but it is widely acknowledged that red ball cricket is his best format yet a test debut has not yet come. With the defeat to England, surely Rahane will now finally, finally get his chance. Seen by Indian fans as the kind of player who will instantly change the fortunes of the side, he will be under pressure, but expect him to rise to it. A truly outstanding player certain to make an impact.
Other players worth a look - Pat Cummins, Junaid Khan, Akila Dananjaya, Ben Foakes, Merchant de Lange, Georgia Elwiss, Shiv Thakor
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