Young guns named in CA XI

Former Test batsman and CA high performance coach Matthew Elliott will guide the Cricket Australia XI – a collection of the country’s exciting young talent – in the upcoming JLT One-Day Cup.

The CA XI will feature players from all six state squads, including four who have previous JLT Sheffield Shield or JLT One-Day Cup experience, six members of the 2017 National Performance Squad are and three young stars who have played for Australia Under 19s this year.

“There is some real talent with this group, and we believe the players in this squad will benefit enormously from the opportunity to compete against the best players in Australia,” Cricket Australia’s National Talent Manager Greg Chappell said.

“Henry Thornton is coming back from some injury issues, and he’s a very exciting prospect. He has been clocked bowling at similar speeds to Brett Lee at the same age.

“Daniel Fallins is an exciting leg-spinner, he’s on the rev counter with the elite wrist spinners - he gives it a real tweak, not unlike Stuart MacGill.”

This is the third year a CA XI has been part of the domestic one-day competition.

“It's great to see seven players who represented the CA XI last year feature in state squads this year - Western Australia’s Will Bosisto and Josh Inglis, Victoria’s Sam Harper and Matt Short, New South Wales' Ryan Gibson and Arjun Nair, and Queensland's Brendan Doggett," Chappell said.

Teenage Victorian allrounder Jonathan Merlo is the only player in this year’s CA XI squad without a state contract, and he is one of three players who will be eligible for Australia’s 2018 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup squad, alongside hard-hitting top-order batsman Max Bryant (Queensland) and Param Uppal (New South Wales).

“We will look to use multiple captains, and give some of our emerging leaders experience in that area as well,” Chappell said.

“It’s great to have three Under 19s players in this squad in Jonathan Merlo, Max Bryant and Param Uppal, they’re all exciting young cricketers. They are all primarily batsmen, but also provide us with additional bowling options.

The CA XI squad is selected by CA’s Youth Selection Panel, in conjunction with the states and territories.

The CA XI will kick off its JLT One-Day Cup campaign against South Australia on September 27 at Allan Border Field.

All matches will be live-scored and live-streamed via www.cricket.com.au

Cricket Australia XI squad: Max Bryant (QLD), Jake Carder (WA), Jackson Coleman (VIC), Daniel Fallins (NSW), David Grant (SA), Clint Hinchliffe (WA), Jonathan Merlo (VIC), Harry Nielsen (SA), Ben Pengelley (SA), Mark Steketee (QLD), Henry Thornton (NSW), Param Uppal (NSW), Beau Webster (TAS), Mac Wright (TAS)

Coach: Matthew Elliott

Assistant Coach: Troy Cooley