Sutherland set to skipper Aus U19s

Victorian allrounder Will Sutherland will have first opportunity at captaining Australia's Under 19s, when he leads the side in its three-day match against Sri Lanka starting on Saturday in Hobart.

Sutherland is one of three players who will share the Australia Under 19s captaincy for the six-match series, with New South Wales duo Jason Sangha and Param Uppal also being given the opportunity to lead.

All three will be eligible for selection for the 2018 ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

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"There's lots of good candidates there, lots of guys that have shown really good captaincy skills in the Pathways system," Australia Under 19s coach Matthew Elliott said.

"We just want to share those opportunities around.

"The main thing for these guys is to understand the pressures that come with captaincy and understand a little bit more about dealing with their teammates and being able to manage them under pressure situations in games, and how they personally respond as well."

The 17-year-old Sutherland captained Victoria Metro at the under-17s championships and the Cricket Australia XI at the under-19s championships.

He was named in the Team of the Championships at both carnivals, after impressing with bat and ball.

"Will's captained a lot of the teams that he's played in in the Pathways system," Elliott said.

"He's done really well for the Vics and then the CA XI team last year at the under-19s. We've been really impressed with his skills."

Sangha, 17, is a NSW Blues and Sydney Thunder rookie, who this season has represented the Cricket Australia XI in the Matador BBQs Cup and in a tour game against Pakistan, plus the Prime Minister's XI against Sri Lanka.

A skilful right-hand batsman, Sangha has previously scored a century at international under-19s level for Australia.

"In some things we did at the CA Rookie Camp, Jason showed a lot of skills that we really liked," Elliott said.

"We want to give him the opportunity to captain and get him to understand how the mechanics of captaincy works. We're really excited with what he might be able to show in that role."

Uppal, 18, is the eldest of the three captains and a classy batting allrounder.

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He starred for NSW Metro at the recent under-19 championships with 370 runs, the equal-third most of any player at the carnival.

"Param's a very skilful player, and he's captained a lot of his underage teams as well," Elliott said.

"He's got some experience there in captaining junior teams, and we want to give him that exposure and see how he performs."

Elliott is confident his side is well-prepared for the first game of the series against Sri Lanka.

"The boys have trained really well, I've been really impressed by the way they've gone about it," he said.

"It's always hard to gauge whether that's going to hold you in good stead or not going into a game. If the effort that goes into training counts for anything, I expect they will hold a good account of themselves during the three-day game."