Eighteen players have been selected for the first ever New Zealand Under-19 Women’s side, set to play a New Zealand Police Women’s XI and a New Zealand Provincial Women’s XI in February, March and April.

Three Otago Sparks members have been included in this squad, namely Gemma Adams, Olivia Gain, and Molly Loe. 

For Otago girls Olivia Gain and Molly Loe, the selection rewards their success at the Secondary School, Age-Group, and Domestic levels. Loe, who debuted for the SBS Bank Otago Sparks in 2019, has been a consistent performer for St Hilda's Collegiate and has begun flaunt her talents at the domestic level.

It is a similar story for St Hilda's student, and top-order batswoman, Olivia Gain, who had an outstanding National U19 Tournament for Otago - finishing as top run-scorer and recording two centuries.

Former Auckland player Gemma Adams has thrived since her move down to Dunedin, and her right-arm pace bowler and hard-hitting batting makes her a dual threat for the NZ U19 side.

“This is a great opportunity for our young, female cricketers to shine on a bigger stage,” said Head of Women’s High Performance, Ant Sharp.

“The U19s represent the next level of up-and-coming players in the country, with several having already played domestic cricket. 

“With the ICC Under-19 Women’s World Cup postponed due to COVID-19 we still want to provide some competitive fixtures for this group as they represent an important part of our talent pathway,” he said.

The NZ U19 Women’s side will be coached by High Performance Sport New Zealand Residency Coach, Kari Carswell. 

“I’m excited to get into camp with the squad and help develop their cricket skills,” said Carswell.

“For me, the result of these matches isn’t the most important thing. We want to develop their skills and start to create future WHITE FERNS.”

“It was tough to narrow down the squad to just 18 names with the level of talent we see coming through in the female game,” she said.

New Zealand Police Women’s XI Manager, Glenn Dawson, said this was the first Women’s side the Police had selected.

“We are stoked to be getting some cricket, given our inter-services tournament was cancelled this year due to Covid-19,” said Dawson.

“We also see this as a great opportunity for the Under-19s to speak with our players about how they have juggled a sporting career along with a police career, such as current WHITE FERN Katie Perkins and former WHITE FERN Erin Bermingham, who is also our captain for the matches.”

We wish all girls selected the best of luck in their campaign.

New Zealand Under-19 Women

Gemma Adams - Otago

Melissa Banks - Canterbury

Lucy Boucher - Northern Districts

Natasha Codyre - Wellington

Olivia Gain - Otago

Isabella Gaze - Auckland

Abigale Gerken - Canterbury

Georgina Harris - Northern Districts

Amie Hucker - Auckland

Bree Illing - Auckland

Emma Irwin - Auckland

Fran Jonas - Auckland

Kayley Knight - Northern Districts

Molly Loe - Otago

Nensi Patel - Northern Districts

Cate Pedersen - Central Districts

Georgia Plimmer - Wellington

Makayla Templeton - Northern Districts

New Zealand Under-19 Women’s Fixtures

Feb 15,16, 17: v New Zealand Police (3 x 40 over matches), Christchurch.

Feb 29, 30, April 1: v New Zealand Provincial XI (3 x 50 over matches), Hamilton.

--ENDS—

Article added: Thursday 21 January 2021