Victorian Metro & Country squads announcement

Staged from September 23 to 27, 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 this season, as well as a Twenty20 and one-day game.

The Country v Metro series is used as a key selection tool for the up-coming National Championships.

During the series, Cricket Victoria Academy coach Jarrad Loughman will be assisted by a number of members of the state’s high performance program and said he was looking forward to seeing how the selected players performed under match conditions.

“It’s a difficult process to narrow the squads to 12 players each, but we’re extremely pleased with the quality that we have assembled,” Loughman said.

“Obviously runs and wickets in Barooga will hold a lot of weight when it comes to selection for the National Championships, but we also want to see how they field and keep wickets and just as importantly the way they manage themselves and interact in a team environment.

“It’s a rounded approach to our selection process but there is still an opportunity for those who are not attending Barooga to push their claims for selection via strong performances for their club sides at the start of the season and some additional trial matches in Melbourne.”

Under-19 Australian representatives Guy Walker, Matt Fotia and Ben Ashkenazi, who will depart for India to compete in this month’s Quad Series, along with Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers rookie Matt Short, who has study commitments, will also be considered for the National Championships but will not attend the Country v Metro series.

During last year’s Under-17 National Championships in Hobart, Victoria clinched its first title since 2003-04, and over the years, the likes of Brad Hodge, Cameron White, Peter Siddle and James Pattinson have all advanced into the Test arena.

Additional trial matches will be held in Melbourne in October and November ahead of the National Championships, which will commence in Hobart on December 2 (Under-19) and in Adelaide on January 13 (Under-17).

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

Victoria Country Under-17 Squad

Cameron Brown (South East Country Sharks), Kade Burns (Gippsland Pride), Teeran Gleeson (North East Knights), Tim Goodman (Western Waves), Adam McMaster (South East Country Sharks), Joe Medew-Ewen (Western Waves), Jackson Mockett (South East Country Sharks), Jack Rieschel (Gippsland Pride), Mitchell Rowe (South East Country Sharks), Blake Thomson (Central Highlands), Braidyn Turner (Mallee Murray Bulls) and Nicholas Woodland (Gippsland Pride).

Victoria Metro Under-17 Squad

Wes Agar (South East Bayside Breakers), Liam Banthorpe (Northern Falcons), Sam Grimwade (Inner South East Scorpions), Sam Harper (Outer East Eagles), Josh Hudson (Outer East Eagles), Dean Krelle (Inner South East Scorpions), Shehan Kudage-Don (Inner East Emus), Will Pucovski (South East Bayside Breakers), Mikoto Quinn (Inner South East Scorpions), Jacob Serry (Inner South East Scorpions), Timothy Sugumar (Outer East Eagles) and Dan Syson (North West Wizards).

Victoria Country Under-19 Squad

Aiden Colarco (Mallee Murray Bulls), Joe Cousins (North East Knights), Scott Dixon (Barwon Rockets), Dylan Grandell (Northern Rivers), Tyler Larkin (Northern Rivers), James Lidgett (Central Highlands), Patrick McKenna (Central Highlands), Will Mills (Western Waves), Matthew Mitchell (Gippsland Pride), Robbie Salerni (South East Country Sharks), Taylor Tatterson (Gippsland Pride) and Jake Wood (South East Country Sharks).

Victoria Metro Under-19 Squad

Ejaaz Alavi (Northern Falcons), Joshua Bartlett (Inner South East Scorpions), Jack Blain (Outer East Eagles), Jayden Borg (North West Wizards), Matthew Bullen (Northern Falcons), Darren Colaco (North West Wizards), Shea Gribbin (South East Bayside Breakers), Sean Griffin (Outer East Eagles), Nishal Perera (Northern Falcons), Jack Rudd (Northern Falcons), Jack Taylor (Southern Pioneers) and Liam Tonkin (South East Bayside Breakers).