Some of the best young talent from across Melbourne’s north-west have been included in Cricket Victoria’s emerging player squads.
Cricket Victoria has announced Vic Country and Vic Metro squads for both under-19 boys and girls, under-16s and under-17 boys, with more than 200 players part of the squads. They also announced the senior emerging players squad.
The under-19 program aims to identify, develop and prepare players for the next level of representative cricket, providing them with the best opportunity to showcase their skills at the upcoming National Championships.
Players in the under-19 squad have been selected through strong performances in Victorian pathway programs and in Victorian Premier Cricket.
The program’s include high-performance coaching and support for players to develop their skills technically, tactically, mentally and physically to enhance their preparation for the 2022-23 season.
Players from both programs will be aiming to make the Vic Metro and Vic Country squads for their respective national championships to be held in December and January.
Gisborne’s Lucas Cavigan and Bacchus Marsh cousins Archie and Sam Lalor have all been named in the Vic Country squad under-17. Cavigan now plays with Essendon.
Former Gisborne player Tom Rogers has been named in the open age emerging performance squad.
Others named in the squad’s include Plenty Valley’s Aanliya Cheeran and Jasmine Nevins in the Vic Country under-19 squad. They were previously announced in the Cricket Victoria female emerging performance squad. Bats’ teammate Ribhya Syan has also been named in the under-19 country squad.
Greenvale Kangaroos’ Lily Pelosi has been named in the under-19 Vic Metro.
Two Footscray guns Mitchell Jamieson and Varad Chaudhari have been named in the under-19 boys Vic Metro squad.
Ikroop Dhanoa, who played his junior cricket at Bundoora United before moving to Plenty Valley, is also in the squad. He now plays with Fitzroy Doncaster in Victorian Premier Cricket.
Dhruv Redhu and Kai Turner, who both played with Mernda, have been named in the metro squad.
Greenvale Kangaroos’ Bradman Constable has been named in the under-19 country squad.
In the under-16 girls Vic Metro squad, many of the stars for the Western Spirit side which claimed the last season’s Youth Premier League title have been selected.
Mia Gordon, Holly Nagpal and Ruby Gibson were all part of the Spirit squad and now play for Essendon Maribyrnong Park.
Olivia Panaia is also in the squad, along with Plenty Valley pair Navleen Sandhu and Nikita Chaudhary are also part of the squad.
The under-17 Vic Metro emerging players squad includes a number of players from Melbourne’s west.
Aiman and Aayan Nadeem (both former Williamstown Colts), Joshua Pace (former Keilor) and Muhammad Abdul Rafay (former Truganina) all play with Footscray now in Premier Cricket.
Reyaan Farooq (former Grand United) and Aryan Sharma (former Plenty Valley) are also in the squad.
Tara Murray
