Rising stars out to impress in Melbourne

Victorian young gun Mackenzie Harvey will be a number of rising stars out to impress this week, as Australia Under 19s take on Pakistan Under 19s in a three-match Youth ODI Series in Melbourne.

The matches will be played at The Albert Ground on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, as part of the tourists’ preparations for the 2018 ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

Harvey is one of the youngest members of the Australian squad, at 17 years of age.

“It’s always good to try to test your skills against a different country,” Harvey told SEN on Tuesday.

“I reckon the boys will get a lot out of it over the next couple of days.”

The left-handed batsman has experienced a rapid rise this summer, making his 1st XI Victorian Premier Cricket debut for Carlton, a Toyota Futures League debut for Victoria and scoring a brilliant century for the Cricket Australia XI at the Under 19 National Championships.

“It’s a really good experience, playing in the 1s there (at Carlton) you get to play against the older blokes who have played Premier Cricket for ages,” Harvey said.

“Seeing how they go through training and what they do on match days is really good, and having the coach, Warren Ayres, there who’s played for Victoria is very handy to have around.

“Seeing what it’s like at Futures League level and sort of getting used to a four-day match… getting used to playing those four days, how fatigued you are at the end… pushing through that was a great challenge.”

Harvey is one of three Victorians who will represent their country in their home state, alongside wicket-keeper Patrick Rowe and Victoria Bushrangers all-rounder Will Sutherland.

Sutherland, 18, has been added to the 14-man group to face Pakistan and is the one member of Australia’s World Cup squad who will feature in this series.

He missed the Under 19 National Championships in December due to a knee injury, and has been part of the Melbourne Renegades BBL side during BBL|07.

Western Australia and Perth Scorchers young gun Cameron Green will don the green and gold, as will Western Australia rookie Matthew Spoors and New South Wales top-order batsman Ryan Hackney, who broke Matthew Wade's all-time runs aggregate record at this year’s Under 19 Championships in Hobart

Hackney and Spoors have previously represented Australia Under 19s, against Sri Lanka in April, as has New South Wales swing bowler Iain Carlisle.

Play starts at 10am, with all matches being live-streamed and free to view via www.cricket.com.au and the Cricket Australia Live App.

Possible Australian XI for Game 1: Matthew Spoors (WA), Ryan Hackney (NSW), Aaron Hardie (WA), Mackenzie Harvey (VIC), Will Sutherland (VIC), Cameron Green (WA), Patrick Rowe (VIC, wk), Harrison Macoun (QLD), Blake Edwards (QLD), Lawrence Neil-Smith (NSW), Iain Carlisle (NSW)

Australian Squad: Iain Carlisle (NSW), Oliver Davies (NSW), Blake Edwards (QLD), Cameron Green (WA), Ryan Hackney (NSW), Aaron Hardie (WA), Mackenzie Harvey (VIC), Bradley Hope (WA), Harrison Macoun (QLD), Lawrence Neil-Smith (NSW), Patrick Rowe (VIC), Matthew Spoors (WA), Jack White (TAS), Harrison Wood (QLD).