The New Zealand A Team to play in the Emerging Players Tournament in Maroochydore and Brisbane in July was announced by New Zealand Cricket today.
Fourteen players have been selected for the series and a further player may be added once the BLACKCAPS return from the ICC Cricket World Cup.
This Emerging Players Tournament will include seven One Day games and two Twenty20 games played against Australia, South Africa and India.
The team is:
James Marshall (Captain)
Neil Broom
Grant Elliott
Gareth Hopkins (wk)
Jamie How
Nathan McCullum
James McMillan
Warren McSkimming
Rob Nicol
Iain O'Brien
Mark Orchard
Michael Papps
Aaron Redmond
Bradley Scott
Craig Cumming and Jesse Ryder were unavailable.
"A number of new players have been included in this year's team as a result of their domestic performances. The selectors hope that this competition will test and challenge them at the next level," National men's selector Glenn Turner said.
"Last year's tournament provided good opportunities for players to advance themselves.
"BLACKCAPS Mark Gillespie, Ross Taylor, Peter Fulton, Jeetan Patel, Chris Martin and Craig McMillan took part in the series.
"This year's tournament will also provide an ideal opportunity to prepare for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in September.
"The team will spend three weeks in Darwin preparing for the series. It is expected that members of the NZ U19 squad will join the team during this time to assist their preparation for the Under 19 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur in February next year."
State Canterbury Wizards Coach Dave Nosworthy will coach the team, assisted by Mike Hesson (State Otago Volts coach) and Vaughn Johnson (New Zealand Cricket Specialist Pace Bowling Coach).
