The best of New Zealand’s under-17 cricket players are converging on Gisborne this week to play for their associations in the 20009/10 national Under-17 tournament.
Auckland, Northern Districts, Central Districts, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago will be represented at the tournament, with the young up and coming faces of the sport showing their skills and talent.
Canterbury is the reigning champion, having won the past two competitions. The team also won the tournament in 2004/05 and 1997/08. Auckland and Central have each won it three times, Northern has won it twice, and Otago and Wellington have a single championship each.
This year’s tournament will be hosted by the Poverty Bay Cricket Association in Gisborne with all games taking place at the Harry Barker Reserve. Traditionally the competition has been held in Napier, however this year the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup will be using the grounds in the Hawke’s Bay.
The format for the 2009/10 under-17 tournament will involve three rounds of two-day matches and two rounds of limited-over games. Points are accumulated and tallied during the tournament to find the overall winner. If two teams have the same amount of points then both teams will be named joint winners, as happened in the 2003/04 season when Northern and Auckland both came out on top.
New Zealand Cricket team and tournament operations manager Catherine Campbell said the under 17 tournament is a great place for bright young talent to shine. “We’ve had a number of BLACKCAPS come through the under-17 competition, so this is where we will see the cricketers of the future,” she said.
“It is set to be an exciting tournament and we look forward to seeing the players stepping up and showing their talents.”
Tournament schedule:
ROUND 1 - Tues 12- Wed 13 Jan
Auckland v Northern Districts
Central Districts v Wellington
Otago v Canterbury
ROUND 2 - Thurs 14 – Fri 15 Jan
Auckland v Central Districts
Northern Districts v Canterbury
Wellington v Otago
Sat 16 REST DAY
ROUND 3 - Sun 17 – Mon 18 Jan
Canterbury v Central Districts
Northern Districts v Otago
Wellington v Auckland
ROUND 4 - Tues 19 Jan
Auckland v Canterbury
Northern Districts v Wellington
Central Districts v Otago
ROUND 5 - Wed 20 Jan
Auckland v Otago
Canterbury v Wellington
Central Districts v Northern Districts
* All matches at Harry Barker Reserve, Gisborne
