National Under 23 Tournament gets underway this week

The best young cricketers in New Zealand are in action this week at the 2011 National Under 23 Tournament at New Zealand Cricket’s three grounds at Lincoln University, near Christchurch, from Monday 24 January.

The tournament has replaced the Provincial A tournament and involves teams from the six Major Associations. Teams are allowed to play up to four members over the age of 23.

Competition starts with a round of three-day matches, followed by three rounds of 50-over cricket and finishes with a round of Twenty20 matches.

Points are accumulated and tallied across all formats to find the overall winner. If two teams have the same amount of points the title will be shared.

Catherine Campbell, NZC’s Team and Tournament Operations Manager, said the tournament provides an opportunity for players who are on the way up in the game.

“With the tournament now for Under 23 players the Major Associations can focus on developing players below or just beginning to play domestic cricket.

“A number of current international players have performed with distinction at National Tournaments when they were beginning their representative careers and we’d expect to see a number of future stars emerge during the week.”

Although there is not a National Provincial A Tournament, Major Associations do still arrange matches at this level.