The Cricket Australia Women's Youth Selection Panel (WYSP) has named a 14-player Australia Under 19 squad to travel across the Tasman to compete in a four-match series against a New Zealand Emerging Players side from 12-17 March.
The two sides will play three 50-over matches and one Twenty20, with the tour marking just the second occasion Australia has sent an under-19 women's team overseas; Australia defeated emerging sides from South Africa and England in a tri-series in South Africa last year.
Australia Under 19's (U18 team/state/WBBL Club in brackets)
1. Isabelle Afaras (NSW Metro)
2. Darcie Brown (South Australia)
3. Stella Campbell (NSW Metro/Sydney Sixers)
4. Maddy Darke (NSW Metro)
5. Hannah Darlington (NSW Metro/Sydney Thunder)
6. Josephine Dooley (Queensland/Brisbane Heat)
7. Nicole Faltum (VIC Metro/Melbourne Stars)
8. Charli Knott (Queensland/Brisbane Heat)
9. Phoebe Litchfield (Cricket Australia XI)
10. Hayley Silver-Holmes (NSW Metro/Sydney Sixers)
11. Courtney Sippel (Queensland/Brisbane Heat)
12. Annabel Sutherland (VIC Metro/Melbourne Stars)
13. Rachel Trenaman (ACT/NSW Country/Sydney Thunder)
14. Tahlia Wilson (NSW Metro/Sydney Sixers)
Coach: Shelley Nitschke
Assistant Coaches: Leah Poulton and Jude Coleman
The squad, selected at the conclusion of the Cricket Australia Under 18 National Championships in Ballarat last night, will be coached by former Australian player and current Australia Women's Team Assistant Coach, Shelley Nitschke. Cricket Australia High Performance Coach and former Australian player, Leah Poulton will join Queensland Pathway Manger and former Queensland player, Jude Coleman as Nitschke's assistants.
Speaking about the squad, Australia Under 19 Coach, Shelley Nitschke said:
"The selectors have chosen a really exciting and talented group of players that I'm really looking forward to working with, and hopefully they can benefit from the experience of playing in foreign conditions and against an opposition most of them are yet to face.
"With the additional opportunities young players are now being exposed to, we're seeing them develop at a much quicker rate, with over half the squad holding WBBL contracts this season and quickly becoming household names.
"There's players like Hayley Silver-Holmes who became the youngest player to make their WBBL debut this summer at just 15, Rachel Trenaman, Josie Dooley, Nicole Faltum and Annabel Sutherland who have stepped up to domestic cricket without a hitch, with plenty of others knocking on the door. I think that's proof that the system is doing its job in developing the next generation of players who are ready to take that next step."
Australia Under 19 Tour of New Zealand
12 March, New Zealand Emerging v Australia Under 19's, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln (50-overs)
14 March, New Zealand Emerging v Australia Under 19's, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln (50-overs)
16 March, New Zealand Emerging v Australia Under 19's, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln (50-overs)
17 March, New Zealand Emerging v Australia Under 19's, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln (T20)
