CD won the trophy for the first time last season | PHOTOSPORT

Teams ready for first Nationals of 2023

Posted Friday, 6 January, 2023 in Domestic News

For the first time, Central Districts will head in as the defending champion when the NZC Gillette Men's Under 19 nationals get underway in Lincoln this weekend.

CD won both of New Zealand's national Under-19 titles last summer in an historic first for Central, but once again this season it's a tight field - and a tough fight is guaranteed to lift the coveted men's trophy again this summer.

The six contestants, representing the six Major Associations, will play a mix of one-day and T20 games over the coming week, with all the matches played on Bert Sutcliffe Oval livestreamed on the NZC app, NZC YouTube and www.nzc.nz.

As the defending champion, a new-look Central Districts squad captained by Palmerston North's Jonty Fleck opens the show on "the Bert" with tomorrow's first round one-day match against Otago Under 19 from 10am.

That's followed by Wellington U19 v Auckland U19 on Lincoln No.3 from 10.15am, and Canterbury U19 v Otago U19 on Lincoln Green from 10.30am (all Saturday, 7 January).

All teams play four one-day rounds, then three T20 rounds to complete proceedings, with the tables combined to find an overall champion across the week.

A rest day is scheduled for Tuesday 10 January after the first three one-day rounds, and the decisive T20 round falls on Friday 13 January, all matches from 10am on the last morning. No doubt all teams will be hoping that black Friday won't bring any of the traditional bad luck to their side on the day!

FULL SCHEDULE

SQUADS:

AUCKLAND U19

Harry Cullen-Hieatt

Rahman Hekmat

James Nelson

Josh Olliver

Neil Patel

Aaryan Prasad

Daniel Presland

Sahil Rawat

Matthew Ross