Today New Zealand Cricket announced a group players who will take part in a winter training camp and then form the New Zealand A squad to play in the annual Emerging Players Tournament (EPT) in Brisbane, Australia.
Graeme Aldridge – Northern Knights
Todd Astle – Canterbury Wizards
Trent Boult – Northern Knights
Doug Bracewell – Central Stags
Neil Broom – Otago Volts
Dean Brownlie – Canterbury Wizards
Derek de Boorder – Otago Volts
Daniel Flynn – Northern Knights
Anaru Kitchen – Auckland Aces
Bruce Martin – Auckland Aces
Andy McKay – Wellington Firebirds
BJ Watling – Northern Knights
Ben Wheeler – Central Stags
Brad Wilson – Northern Knights
Luke Woodcock – Wellington Firebirds
The New Zealand team will assemble in Maroochydore for a training camp on 18 July before transferring to Brisbane on 26 July for the EPT. The other three teams are Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), and emerging cricket teams of South Africa and India.
This year will see a format change from the traditional competition structure with the teams completing a round of three-day matches to determine the winner.
Previous Emerging Player Tournament’s have featured Twenty20 and 50-over matches but the participating nations felt the longer version was more beneficial for overall development.
National Selection Manager Mark Greatbatch said: “We have taken the opportunity to reward the performance of some more experienced players while providing an opportunity for some young talent who will be important to New Zealand’s future.
“A training camp prior to the EPT will give the players an opportunity to settle into their roles and develop skills at their pace.
“The Emerging Players Tournament is a great way to end the winter programme and provides the players with competitive cricket before they start work with their domestic teams.”
Round One: 1 – 3 August
AIS v New Zealand at Allan Border Field (10am start)
South Africa v India at Redlands Cricket Club (10am)
Round Two: 6 – 8 August
AIS v South Africa at Endeavour Park (10am)
New Zealand v India at Endeavour Park (10am)
Round Three: 11 – 13 August
AIS v India at Endeavour Park (10am)
New Zealand v South Africa at Endeavour Park (10am)
Previous winners
2005: India
2006: South Africa
2007: South Africa
2008: New Zealand
2009: India
2010: South Africa/India (shared)
