New Zealand gets its first-ever women's U-19 side; to play against Police, Provincial XI

Eighteen players have been selected to form the first-ever New Zealand U-19 side that will play against New Zealand Police and New Zealand Provincial XI over the next three months, the country’s cricketing board has announced on Thursday (January 21).



The U-19 side will play three 40-over games against New Zealand Police on February 15, 16 and 17 in Christchurch before turning up against New Zealand Provincial XI on February 29, 30 and April 1 in three 50-over matches in Hamilton.



“This is a great opportunity for our young, female cricketers to shine on a bigger stage,” said Head of Women’s High Performance, Ant Sharp. “The U19s represent the next level of up-and-coming players in the country, with several having already played domestic cricket.



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“With the ICC Under-19 Women’s World Cup postponed due to COVID-19 we still want to provide some competitive fixtures for this group as they represent an important part of our talent pathway,” he said. The side will be coached by High-Performance Sport New Zealand Residency Coach, Kari Carswell.



“I’m excited to get into camp with the squad and help develop their cricket skills,” said Carswell. “For me, the result of these matches isn’t the most important thing. We want to develop their skills and start to create future WHITE FERNS.”



“It was tough to narrow down the squad to just 18 names with the level of talent we see coming through in the female game,” she said. It was also learnt that this is also the first time a New Zealand Police side has been selected.



“We are stoked to be getting some cricket, given our inter-services tournament was cancelled this year due to Covid-19,” said New Zealand Police Manager, Glenn Dawson.



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“We also see this as a great opportunity for the Under-19s to speak with our players about how they have juggled a sporting career along with a police career, such as current international Katie Perkins and former pacer Erin Bermingham, who is also our captain for the matches.”



The U-19 squad:



Gemma Adams (Otago), Melissa Banks (Canterbury), Lucy Boucher (Northern Districts), Natasha Codyre (Wellington), Olivia Gain (Otago), Isabella Gaze (Auckland), Abigale Gerken (Canterbury), Georgina Harris (Northern Districts), Amie Hucker (Auckland), Bree Illing (Auckland), Emma Irwin (Auckland), Fran Jonas (Auckland), Kayley Knight (Northern Districts), Molly Loe ( Otago), Nensi Patel (Northern Districts), Cate Pedersen (Central Districts), Georgia Plimmer (Wellington), Makayla Templeton (Northern Districts).