CENTRAL DISTRICTS U17 representative MATTHEW ROWE has been named in a quartet of non-travelling reserves for the New Zealand Under 19 men's squad to Darwin in June.

After a lengthy hiatus due to the pandemic, it's the first time in recent seasons that NZ U19 will assemble and head offshore to play, with Rowe the only CD face in a totally fresh-look squad.

The Manawatū age-group and Palmerston North Boys' High rep is one of the younger faces in the wider NZ U19 training squad, and being selected as a non-travelling reserve means he will be among the first considered as an official replacement should there be an injury or similar circumstance affecting the 14-strong squad named to travel to Australia.

Paceman Rowe impressed for CD Under 17 this summer, taking a five-wicket bag against Otago Under 17 at January's NZC Nationals with an excellent return of 10-1-29-5.

He turned heads again at the end of the season with a stunning feat at the annual Super Eight interschool tourney in Tauranga, his 9/12 against Rotorua Boys' High including six wickets in one over!

A first cousin of Central Hinds and WHITE FERNS star HANNAH ROWE, Matt's full figures were 6-1-12-9. He had to leave it to his teammates to take the 10th wicket as pace bowlers at this level are permitted to bowl just six overs in an innings.

The New Zealand Under 19s are heading to tropical Darwin to compete in the East Asia Pacific region's qualifying tournament for the next ICC Under 19 Men's World Cup, with the first game against Japan U19 on 12 June.

That's followed by matches against the Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia Under 19 teams, with the New Zealand squad coached by Auckland's Johnny Bassett-Graham who will be supported by NZC's Graeme Aldridge (pace bowling coach) and Paul Wiseman (spin and assistant coach).

The NZU19 wider squad will assemble for three training camps in Lincoln before the tour, with the first one starting tomorrow.

Normally a direct entry team to the long-running one-day youth World Cup, New Zealand needs to go down the qualifying route for the next World Cup after NZC opted out of the 2022 edition due to concerns about the potential wellbeing of young players who would have had to isolate in MIQ upon their return, as per pandemic control measures at the time.

Curtis Heaphy | PHOTOSPORT

Top emerging players such as CD's CURTIS HEAPHY and WILL CLARK were instead involved in the bespoke New Zealand Development internal series against Domestic A teams and other selections over the past two seasons, to provide additional pathways to grow their game.

Both have meanwhile successfully stepped up into the Central Stags, and have their first Domestic titles under their belt.

Six of the strong New Zealand Under 19 squad announced today have already played "A" cricket for their Domestic associations.

"Some really talented cricketers missed out on the last World Cup so it's great to be able to get a young group together again and give them an opportunity at this level," Wiseman noted.

“We’ve picked players off the back of performances from the Under 19 and Under 17 national tournaments, and the Under 17 cohort in particular boasted a pretty high standard so it’s great to see a couple of those young guys get this chance.”

 

NZC U19 SQUAD

 

ICC EAP MEN'S U19 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT

 

Darwin, Australia

 

June 2023

 

 

Auckland • Rahman Hekmat, Tom Jones, Josh Olliver, Lachie Stackpole

Northern Districts • Sam Clode, Snehit Reddy, Ewald Schreuder

Wellington • Oscar Jackson, Ollie Tewatiya, Alex Thompson, Ryan Tsourgas

Canterbury • Ben Breitmeyer, Cameron Paul

Otago • Zak Cumming

Non-Travelling Reserves

Central Districts • Matthew Rowe

Wellington • Will Julian

Canterbury • Connor Stewart

Otago • Mason Clarke

Fixtures

Monday 12 June • New Zealand U19 v Japan

Tuesday 13 June • New Zealand U19 v Vanuatu

Thursday 15 June • New Zealand U19 v Samoa

Friday 16 June • New Zealand U19 v Fiji

Sunday 18 June • New Zealand U19 v Papua New Guinea

Monday 19 June • New Zealand U19 v Indonesia

Article added: Thursday 27 April 2023