Sangha to lead Australia in U-19 World Cup
Jason Sangha will lead Australia at the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand next year, Cricket Australia announced on Friday (December 15).
The 15-man squad has ten players who faced Sri Lanka U-19 in April this year. They include Max Bryant, Lloyd Pope and Austin Waugh, the son of Steve Waugh, Australia's former captain.
The World Cup will commence from January 13, with the final to be played on February 3. Australia are three-time winners, the joint-most along with India, and last won the title in the 2009-10 edition in New Zealand.
The team was selected by the Youth Selection Panel, chaired by Greg Chappell, the national talent manager and national selector, and featuring Troy Cooley, Graham Manou and Ryan Harris, in consultation with the state and territory talent managers.
Chappell felt the team has a great chance of claiming the title. “I think this is a very exciting squad and there is some exceptional talent within this group,” he said. "We’ve got a good spread of skills through the squad. We’re quite strong with our pace bowling, we have good depth with our spin bowling, and a number of our top-order batsmen all offer viable bowling options, which gives us a lot of flexibility when it comes to team selection.
“These guys have all had success at underage level in Australia over a number of years, and many of them have already had a taste of international U-19 cricket. We’re fortunate that a lot of these players have already played together coming through the underage pathway, which is a great thing. We believe this squad has a serious chance of contending for the title at the end of the tournament.”
All the selected players have played at the Cricket Australia U-19 National Championships over the past two weeks in Tasmania with the exception of the injured Will Sutherland, the son of James Sutherland, the CEO of CA.
Sangha, the captain, scored 133 against England in a first-class match for the CA XI last month. The 18-year old, along with Sutherland, Xavier Bartlett, Bryant, Param Uppal and Jonathan Merlo played JLT Cup cricket for the CA XI this year. Bryant scored two half-centuries for the CA XI, while Sutherland claimed 4 for 11 on his debut in this season’s JLT Cup. Pope was the leading wicket-taker at last summer’s U-17 and U-19 National Championships.
Bryant is also on a full contract with the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League, while Sutherland (Melbourne Renegades), Uppal (Sydney Thunder) and Jack Edwards (Sydney Sixers) are on BBL rookie contracts.
Ryan Harris, the former Australian paceman, will coach the U-19 side, with Chris Rogers as his assistant. The Australian team will have a preparatory camp in Brisbane in early January, before playing practice matches against Sri Lanka and South Africa on January 9 and 11 respectively at the Hagley Park Complex in Christchurch.
Australia, who are slotted in Pool B, will begin their campaign against India on January 14 at Tauranga’s Bay Oval, before playing matches against Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea at the Lincoln Green in Christchurch.
Squad: Jason Sangha (capt), Will Sutherland (vice-capt), Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Jack Edwards, Zak Evans, Jarrod Freeman, Ryan Hadley, Baxter Holt, Nathan McSweeney, Jonathan Merlo, Lloyd Pope, Jason Ralston, Param Uppal, Austin Waugh.