World Cup spots on the line in U19 national champs

Australia's most talented emerging male cricketers will gather in Albury, New South Wales this week for the Cricket Australia Under-19 Male National Championships.

The Championships is the last opportunity for players to put their name forward for next year's ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup held in South Africa in January-February, with the squad to be named at the conclusion of the National Championships.

When does it start?

The National Championships begin on Thursday, November 30 and culminates with the Final on Thursday, December 7.

What's the schedule?

The ten sides are split into two pools, where each team will play each other over the first four days, before the top two from each pool proceed to the semi-finals.

Pool A: New South Wales Metro, Victoria Metro, Victoria Country, South Australia & Northern Territory.

 

Pool B: Queensland, New South Wales Country, Western Australia, Tasmania & Australian Capital Territory.

All matches are played as 50-over games. View the full schedule here.

How can I watch?

All matches will be live streamed on FrogBox and can be accessed through the PlayCricket app (under the Cricket Australia State Competitions) or through the Cricket Australia YouTube channel.

For those in Albury, all matches are open to the public and will be played across multiple venues with the Final to be played at Alexandra Park.

How else can I follow?

All fixtures and ladders can be accessed online here or through the PlayCricket app. And keep an eye on the PlayCricket social media channels for all the best highlights and performances.

Players to watch

Harry Dixon (Vic Metro)

Dixon made a name for himself as a bottom age player in last season's National Championships with 357 runs at an average of 89.25, including a top score of 197no.

The Victorian left-hander has since made three hundreds against England for the Australian U19 side, including back-to-back red-ball centuries in four-day matches in September. He also earned a contract with the Melbourne Renegades for KFC BBL|13.

Sam Konstas (NSW Metro)

The highly regarded Konstas also starred in Australia's U19 tour of England, scoring 105no off 120 deliveries in the second ODI as well as an impressive 84no in the second innings of the first four-day match.

Konstas has also previously broken run scoring records for his club Sutherland in NSW Premier Cricket and made his Marsh Sheffield Shield at the SCG this week.

Tom Menzies (Northern Territory)

Menzies was the youngest member of the Australian Under-19 squad that toured England this winter and played three matches on the tour. The Darwin product is a skilful swing bowler and will captain the Northern Territory.

Callum Vidler (Queensland)

Right-arm pace bowler Vidler starred for Australia's U19 side in England taking eight wickets in their four-day clash at Worcester including 5-49 in the first innings. Vidler also took six wickets from three 50-over matches in England.

Oliver Peake (Vic Country)

Peake is regarded as a rising star in Victorian cricket after being named in last season's U17 National Championships Team of the Tournament. As a 16-year-old he had already featured for Vic Country at U19 level and represented Geelong's First XI in Victorian Premier Cricket.

Batting in the top four throughout the U17 championships in Tasmania, Peake scored 238 runs from his six innings at an average of 119.

What's at stake?

For the first time, the winning state will be presented with the Rodney Marsh Shield, which has been renamed to honour the late Australian wicketkeeper.

Marsh had a substantial impact on the development of Australian cricketers as the inaugural coach and later director of the Australian Cricket Academy, CA's manager of Elite Coaching Development and Australia's Chairman of Selectors.

Australia's U19 World Cup squad for South Africa will be named after the Final of the National Championships. Players that travelled to Sri Lanka and England over the winter are all eligible for the upcoming World Cup.

Team to beat?

NSW Metro came out on top in last season's U19 competition after Joel Davies scored 458 runs at a stunning average of 114.5 across six matches.

However, it was Queensland who emphatically beat NSW Metro by nine wickets in the last U17 National Championships and will again be strong despite the loss of injured Australian U19 captain Hugh Weibgen who has been ruled out of the tournament with a back issue.

The squads

Australian Capital Territory: Kai Brunker (c), Nicholas Allen, Dave Dubey, Blake Faunce, Sineth Herath, Tom Hogan, Akshay Joseph, Nick Kent, Jeet Metha, Jake Monie, Raakin Rahman, Jake Smith, Jack Stokes, Ansh Tiwary

NSW Country: Bailey Abela, Angus Campbell, Ryan Cattle, Bryce Cook, Joseph Gillard, Charlie Howard, Riley Keen, Bailey Lidgard, Oscar Lyons, Angus Parsons, Jake Scott, Harry Scowen, Sam Weir

NSW Metro: Charlie Anderson, Luke Callanan, Cameron Frendo, Ryan Gupta, Ryan Hicks, Trystan Kennedy, Sam Konstas, Rafael MacMillan, Yuva Nischay, Addison Sherriff, Harjas Singh, Tom Straker, Cameron Tunks

Northern Territory: Tom Menzies (c), Charlie Bignell, Nicholas Fleming, Josh Gawthrope, Charlie Kemp, Zayden Lewis, Clancy McCormick, Aiman Nadeem, Everett Oxenham, Arjun Sehrawat, Luke Tully, Danvi Vemulalapalli, Joel Wright

Queensland: Lachlan Aitken, Tom Campbell, Ashton Gumm, Zac McDermott, Brayden Meegama, Alexander Procopis, James Pullar, Cody Reynolds, Angus Tolhurst, Rex Tooley, Callum Vidler, Luke Wegner, Matthew Wilkins

South Australia: Jack Matchett (c), Kyle Adams, Josh Bevan, Brandon Bray, Tom Brown, Hamish Case, Tejas Gill, Kane Halfpenny, Seb McVann, Edward Milner, Deakin Murphy, Hayden Schiller, Rudransh Sharma, Tom Wilkinson

Tasmania: Jesse Willmott (c), Ethan Clark, Lachlan Clark, Zac Curtain, Tom Dwyer, Joe Groom, Toby Hutton, Oliver Knowles, Joe McGann, Jack Miller, Tom Murrell, Aidan O’Connor, Luke Quinlan, James Scott

Victoria Country: Harkirat Bajwa (c), Austin Anlezark, Xander Buxton, Lucas Cavigan, Henry Edwards, Jarvis Harvey, Jack Harwood, Harry Hoekstra, Archie Lalor, Henry Melville, Liam O’Connor, Kyle Parrott, Oliver Peake, Kane Scott

Victoria Metro: Harry Dixon (c), Nick Brennan, Atharv Deshpande, Darcy Gregory-Francis, Christian Howe, Ali Khan, Jack Lyndon, Josh Pace, Max Parker, Tyler Pearson, Vishwa Ramkumar, Lewis Sellenger, Bailey Toseland, Will Waters

Western Australia: Kai Orr (c), Mahli Beardman, Jye Donald, Albert Esterhuysen, Jake Gerrans, Joseph Kelly, Rory King, Benji Melville, Mitch Oliver, Declan Power, Jordan Roads, Sean Thompson, Joshua Vernon, Corey Wasley