Squads for Male Country and Metro series announced

Cricket Victoria has today announced its squads for the up-coming Male Country v Metro series and the inaugural Academy Invitational XII.

Staged from September 22 to 26 in Cobram/Barooga, the multi-format series, which pits Victoria Metro against Victoria Country at both under-17 and under-19 level, will feature a two-day match, a Twenty20 and a one-day game.

In an exciting development this season, there will also be a third under-19 side, the Academy Invitational XII, that will face the Australian Capital Territory under-19s in Cobram, simultaneously with the Country V Metro series.

Cricket Victoria High Performance Manager Tim McCaskill said the addition of a third under-19 side would give further opportunities for players to push their claims for Victorian selection.

“We were approached by the ACT and we saw a chance to give 12 players opportunities that would have missed out last year,” McCaskill said.
“The Invitational XII will be a combined Country and Metro squad.

“This squad provides players involved in country cricket the chance to showcase their skills, whilst we will also get to see additional metro players perform.”

Since the series was established in 2012, Victoria has finished first and second in the Under-17 National Championships with McCaskill pointing to the Country and Metro series as a key factor.

“The results have been strong,” McCaskill said.

“The volume of players coming through has increased with the Barooga series.

“Players are relaxed a bit more knowing that they have multiple opportunities throughout the week to prove what they can do.”

Victoria’s four players selected in the Australian under-19 squad to tour Sri Lanka – Pat McKenna, Sam Grimwade, Sam Harper and Liam Banthorpe – will be unavailable for the Country and Metro series due to their national commitments.

Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers rookies Guy Walker and Matt Short, both still eligible for the Under-19 National Championships, will also be unavailable due to Victorian trial matches.

Players selected to participate in the up-coming series will attend a preparation day at Maribyrnong College on September 14, which will include a range of activities designed to prepare squads for the Cobram/Barooga carnival.

Pre-season trials and the Barooga series will form an important part of selection for the Victorian Under-17 and 19 National Championships squads.

However, state youth selectors also highly value performances at club level, with the first month of the season providing further opportunities to impress.

An additional trial match for the under-17s will be held on November 2 at Central Reserve in Glen Waverley, with male state youth squads for the National Championships selected later that week.

Matches
September 22, 1pm: Twenty20 – Country V Metro at Barooga
September 22, 1pm: Twenty20 – Academy Invitational XI V ACT at Cobram
September 23, 10am: 50-over match – Country V Metro at Barooga
September 23, 10am: 50-over match – Academy Invitational XI V ACT at Cobram
September 24 – 26, 80-over match – Country V Metro at Barooga
September 24 – 26, 80-over match – Academy Invitational XI V ACT at Cobram

Under-19 Metro Squad
Ejaaz Alavi (Northern Falcons)
Ash Armstrong (Western Spirit)
Jack Blain (Outer East Eagles)
Anthony Brolic (Outer East Eagles)
Kieran Elliott (Western Spirit)
Shea Gribben (South East Bayside Breakers)
Nishal Perera (Northern Falcons)
Jonty Rushton (Northern Falcons)
Gehan Seneviratne (South East Bayside Breakers)
Jacob Serry (Inner South East Scorpions)
Josh White (Inner East Emus)
Ashan Wijayakumara (Southern Pioneers)

Under-19 Country Squad
Curtly Balshaw (Barwon Rockets)
James Billington (Northern Rivers)
Leigh Diston (Gippsland)
Luke Ford (Barwon Rockets)
Thomas LaBrooy (South East Country Sharks)
Adam McMaster (South East Country Sharks)
Callum Nankervis (North East Country Knights)
Tom O’Donnell (Northern Rivers)
Tom Smith (Western Waves)
Gordon Waterfall (South East Country Sharks)
Isaac Willett (North East Country Knights)
Jake Wood (South East Country Sharks)

Under-19 Academy Invitational XII
Josh Bartlett (Inner South East Scorpions)
Liam Bowe (Northern Rivers
Kade Burns (Gippsland)
Tyson Freeman (Outer East Eagles)
Teeran Gleeson (North East Country Knights)
Layton McCann (Northern Rivers)
Tanner Stanton (Southern Pioneers)
Brayden Stepien (Northern Rivers)
Nick Taranto (South East Country Sharks)
Ben Threlfall (Western Waves)
Paddy Turner (Outer East Eagles)
Daniel Van Der Merwe (South East Bayside Breakers)

Under-17 Metro Squad
Thaveesh Attanayake (Inner South East Scorpions)
Mark Butler (Outer East Eagles)
Chris Diggle (South East Bayside Breakers)
Lachlan Downes (Outer East Eagles)
Damon Egan (South East Bayside Breakers)
Lewis English (Inner East Emus)
Jack Gilbert (Inner South East Scorpions)
Josh Hudson (Outer East Eagles)
Jonah Koch (Western Spirit)
Noah Korkolis (Inner South East Scorpions)
Blake Parsons (South East Bayside Breakers)
Ben Roughsedge (Northern Falcons)

Under-17 Country Squad
Kyle Bienfeldt (Barwon Rockets)
Angus Boyd (Western Waves)
Cameron Brown (South East Country Sharks)
Jonty Chaproniere (Mallee Murray Bulls)
Xavier Crone (Northern Rivers)
Ryan Hartley (Northern Rivers)
Luke Inglis (Barwon Rockets)
Nick King (Western Waves)
Brodie Symons (South East Country Sharks)
Blake Thomson (Central Highlanders)
Jakob Tidyman (Central Highlanders)
Matthew Underwood (Central Highlanders)