(Photo Credit: Indoor Cricket New Zealand)
New Zealand have named their squads for the Junior World Series tournament to be held in Christchurch, New Zealand, following the completion of their recently completed Junior Provincials.
The home tournament will take place for a week over late September/early October and besides the hosts will include teams from Australia, South Africa, England, Singapore and Sri Lanka.
Grades to be featured will be the 17 & Under Boys, 17 & Under Girls, 15 & Under Boys and the 13 & Under Boys.
The host nation of a World Indoor Cricket tournament can select two sides in each grade, with the latter being a development or 'A' team. Therefore, New Zealand have selected eight teams for inclusion.
New Zealand squads - Junior World Series
17 & Under Boys - New Zealand
Josh Driscoll (Auckland), Micah Conroy (Wellington), Regan Craig (Wellington), Ryan Jackson (Wellington), Jackson Hemingway (Canterbury), Ryan James (Canterbury), Joey Field (Central Districts), Tom McDonald (Canterbury), Cory Townsend (Northern Districts), Rogan Vekony (Wellington)
Coach: Nick Ward (Wellington)
Manager: Warwick Simmons (Auckland)
17 & Under Boys - New Zealand A
Ryan Donovan (Auckland), Keller McDonald (Wellington), Matthew Scoble (Wellington), Kees Beck (Canterbury), Charlie Finnie (Canterbury), Wilhelm Muller (Northern Districts), Devon Murdoch (Northern Districts), Logan Trower (Central Districts), Alex Brogan (Canterbury), Liam Wheeler - Auckland
Coach: Sunnie Chan (Wellington)
Manager: Mike Stocker (Canterbury)
Current New Zealand Open Men's team member Nick Ward will coach the New Zealand 17 & Under boys' side, while his former New Zealand teammate Sunnie Chan will coach the New Zealand A 17 & Under boys' team.
17 & Under Girls - New Zealand
Skye Bowden (Northern Districts), Amie Hucker (Auckland), Kate Fenton (Wellington), Saffron Wilson (Southern Districts), Georgia Plimmer (Wellington), Allyssa Bowden (Northern Districts), Xara Jetly (Wellington), Briana Perry (Northern Districts), Georgia Wells (Southern Districts), Fran Jonas (Auckland)
Coach: Jess Ramage (Northern Districts)
Manager: Amy Rendel (Canterbury)
17 & Under Girls - New Zealand A
Marama Downes (Northern Districts), Dani Brearton (Wellington), Tatiana Gibbs (Canterbury), Lottie Fuller (Southern Districts), Holly Topp (Northern Districts), Annie Ewart (Auckland), Georgina Harris (Northern Districts), Breezy Illing (Auckland), Beth Tretheway (Wellington), Gemma Adams (Auckland)
Coach: Kimberley Minogue (Canterbury)
Manager: Jess Little (Canterbury)
15 & Under Boys - New Zealand
Aaron Mansfield-Putt (Auckland), Elias Falanitule (Northern Districts), Baylee Foote (Central Districts), Liam McCarthy (Central Districts), Lovepreet Padda (Central Districts), Samuel Pawson (Central Districts), Toby Findlay (Central Districts), Jack Morris (Southern Districts), Jonty Raxworthy (Southern Districts), Finn Raxworthy (Southern Districts)
Coach: Robin James (Canterbury)
Manager: Jodi Arkinstall (Canterbury)
15 & Under Boys - New Zealand A
William Lusk (Auckland), Lachlan Bailey (Wellington), Matthew Nel (Wellington), Liam Hobbs (Southern Districts), Jack MacNeil (Southern Districts), Harry Bisphan (Canterbury), Harlin Amaral (Auckland), Jordy Allen (Auckland), James Rawnsley (Central Districts), Kaleb McKay (Southern Districts)
Coach: Craig Dyer (Canterbury)
Manager: Dale Ferris (Canterbury)
13 & Under Boys - New Zealand
Fraser Farrell (Auckland), Rustin Langford (Auckland), Logan Andrews (Canterbury), Oscar Reid (Wellington), Sam Reddiex (Wellington), Charlie Pawson (Central Districts), Brodie Hemingway (Canterbury), Jack Gaskin (Wellington), Isaac Milne (Canterbury), Scott Rarity (Northern Districts)
Coach: Terry Dean (Wellington)
Manager: Jamie Bridewell (Wellington)
13 & Under Boys - New Zealand A
Caleb Webb (Canterbury), Kaine Hartley (Canterbury), Luke Templer (Northern Districts), Billy Joesph Syme (Northern Districts), Depp Bollingford (Northern Districts), Luke Scrimgeour (Northern Districts), Shayaan Sarker (Auckland), Oakley Hawes (Canterbury), Daniel Van Straaten (Wellington), Matthew Sunderland (Auckland)
Coach: Andrew Templer (Northern Districts)
Manager: Stuart Scrimgeour (Northern Districts)
Tournament Officials
Tournament Director - Mark Cini (Canterbury)
Umpires - Wayne Robertson (Umpires Director, Canterbury), Glen Stevenson (Canterbury), Kat Wenborn (Canterbury), Scott Van Syp (Auckland), Chris Fitzgerald (Southern Districts)
Cini praises Junior Provincials Tournament, looks forward to World Series
The naming of the squads came off the back of a highly successful Junior Provincials tournament, also held in Christchurch last weekend. Almost 300 players and 28 teams were present in Christchurch for the tournament, the most for any junior tournament previously held in New Zealand. That statistic has been the product of a lot of hard work behind the scenes at Indoor Cricket New Zealand (ICNZ) resulting in heavy growth at the junior levels.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has recently come on-board in terms of recognising the indoor variety of the game, and communicated their support of and co-operation with ICNZ, a massive first step for the sport in New Zealand. The effective message of saying indoor cricket is a legitimate pathway is a huge boost for the indoor cricket community, which relies on a self-funding model.
ICNZ executive and Junior World Series tournament director Mark Cini was extremely pleased with the running of the junior tournament, which received very warm feedback from players and supporters alike, and looks forward to the World Series come September, where New Zealand has selected some very competitive teams. "In terms of ICNZ junior tournaments, I think this was the best ever", said Cini. He continued, "the talent on display was amazing. The tournament ran like clockwork and everyone worked hard to make it a success. From the ability of the players, the spirit of the game, to support staff and the performance of the umpires, everything just came together. Honestly, I think at times there were nearly 700 parents in the centres, watching these kids play. That is just incredible".
He noted, "the feedback from the team venues, players, parents and supporters alike was very positive. I'm extremely proud of that. And it has resulted in the naming of eight sides and 80 players to take the court in September for the World Series, which is huge for ICNZ. It's going to be a competitive tournament no doubt, but I think we have selected some excellent, quality players in here, including four sets of players in different teams from the same families. We are looking forward to the challenge, and we are looking forward to hosting players from a number of different countries, for what should be a great tournament.