Last summer he bowled the perfect over: six wickets in six balls. You'd think it doesn't get better than that for a pace bowler, but MATT ROWE is on top of the world today after his selection for New Zealand Under 19.

The Manawatū allrounder is off to the 2024 ICC Men's Under 19 World Cup as one of four fresh faces in the national squad, who earlier this year won the East Asia Pacific Qualifier to requalify New Zealand for the tournament.

The World Cup in South Africa begins in late January, with New Zealand's hotly contested 15-strong squad captained by Wellington allrounder Oscar Jackson.

The cousin of WHITE FERN an CENTRAL HIND HANNAH ROWE, Rowe hails from Palmerston North Boys' High School, for whom he took his perfect over feat in the Super Eight schools tournament last season, ending a match against Rotorua Boys' with a tidy haul of 9/12.

After a slip catch brought him the first wicket, he'd hit the poles for the next four balls - four clean bowled, and the last one LBW.

"The umpire, I was talking to him a bit, and he said, 'I haven't seen many hat-tricks in my time'", Rowe told the press after the feat caught worldwide attention.

"I thought, oh I'll see if I can make it happen for the umpire. That was just the start."

"It was after the fourth. I was sort of like, oh, this is getting a bit serious, actually!"

"Five was surprise. I was really surprised. I didn't expect it to happen."

And the sixth?

"Total disbelief. The boys were all getting around me, it was crazy to be honest. They were going mental."

The New Zealand Under 19 World Cup team is coached by former Auckland rep and Auckland Cricket network coach Jonny Bassett-Graham, with assistance from Paul Wiseman and Graeme Aldridge.

Allrounder Cam Paul, who was in the squad that qualified in Darwin and has already featured for Canterbury in The Ford Trophy this season, was ruled out of selection by a dislocated shoulder.

The 16 teams will be broken into pools of four before the Super Six phase of the event, ahead of the semi-finals and the final in Benoni.

New Zealand is grouped with Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan. with their opening match in East London on January 21.

Bassett-Graham hoped a really rewarding few months lay ahead of the players.

“Firstly, I’d like to congratulate the players selected for what will be a first ICC Cricket World Cup for the entire squad,” he said.

“It’s a hugely exciting time for them and their families and I know a lot of hard work and sacrifice has got them to where they are today.

“This tournament will be an awesome opportunity for our players to test themselves against the best in the world in their age group, and we hope it will be a great experience.

“You only have to look at the impressive list of players who have represented New Zealand at this tournament to understand its importance - from senior BLACKCAPS like Kane Williamson and Tim Southee through to rising stars like Rachin Ravindra and Adi Ashok.”

Bassett-Graham said the selectors were happy with the squad while acknowledging some hard decisions needed to be made.

“It’s always tough when you’ve got to leave quality players out as we have on this occasion,” he said.

“The loss of Cam Paul to a shoulder dislocation was a blow, and also affected other selections as we tried to balance losing his genuine all-round ability.

“The batting order has good versatility, and we’re confident we have the right bowling options for the different conditions we may face in South Africa.”

The squad departs for South Africa on January 11.

 

 

NZ UNDER 19 MEN

2024 ICC U19 Cricket World Cup

Oscar Jackson (c) (bat/pace) - Canterbury

Mason Clarke (pace) - Otago

Sam Clode (w) - Northern Districts

Zac Cumming (spin/bat) - Otago

Rahman Hekmat (spin) - Auckland

Tom Jones (bat) - Auckland

James Nelson (bat) - Auckland

Snehith Reddy (bat/spin) - Northern Districts

Matt Rowe (pace) - Central Districts

Ewald Schreuder (pace) - Northern Districts

Lachlan Stackpole (bat) - Auckland

Oliver Tewatiya (bat/spin) - Wellington

Alex Thompson (w) - Wellington

Ryan Tsourgas (pace) - Wellington

Luke Watson (bat) - Auckland

NZ Reserves

Ben Breitmeyer (pace) - Canterbury

Nick Brown (w) - Otago

Henry Christie (bat) - Wellington

Robbie Foulkes (bat) - Canterbury

Josh Oliver (pace/bat) - Auckland

Amogh Paranjpe (pace) - Wellington

New Zealand U19 Fixtures

Sun Jan 21 v Nepal, Buffalo Park, East London

Tues Jan 23 v Afghanistan, Buffalo Park, East London

Sat Jan 27 v Pakistan, Buffalo Park, East London

Group A: Bangladesh, India, Ireland, USA 
Group B: England, Scotland, South Africa, West Indies 
Group C: Australia, Namibia, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe
Group D: Afghanistan, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan

Article added: Thursday 14 December 2023