The best of New Zealand’s under-19 cricket players are converging on the New Zealand Cricket High Performance Centre tomorrow to play for their associations in the 2012/13 National Under-19 Tournament.
Auckland, Northern Districts, Central Districts, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago are participating in the tournament, which will be held in Lincoln from January 16 -25.
The teams have already begun their campaign, having competed around the country in a two-day match and one-day match last week against their nearest neighbouring Major Association.
Central Districts currently hold the lead and sit two points ahead of second placed Canterbury, who are five points clear of Auckland and Northern Districts in third. There have been a number of key individual performances so far, but an unbeaten 200 from Central’s James McDougall in the opening two-day match against Wellington tops the highlights.
The format for the 2012/13 Under-19 Tournament will involve two rounds of two-day matches, five rounds of one-day matches and three rounds of Twenty20 matches. Points are accumulated and tallied during the tournament to find the overall winner.
Auckland will be hunting for their fourth win in a row, having held the title since the 2009/10 season when they took it off Canterbury.
Points table
Central Districts 15
Canterbury 13
Auckland 8
Northern Districts 8
Otago 3
Wellington 3
Next Round: Two-Day match
Northern Districts v Otago
Auckland v Wellington
Central Districts v Canterbury
