After a strong showing at last week's U19 Men's Nationals in Lincoln which saw the Wellington Men finish second, six of the squad's players have been honoured with selections at the national level.

Wellington batsman Oscar Jackson will captain a 15-strong New Zealand squad at the ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup 2024 in South Africa this January and February. Jackson also captained Wellington at the Men's Nationals last week, contributing with both bat and ball.

Alex Thompson took the gloves for the U19 men, featuring an aggresive top-order batting style which saw him play innings at strike rates typically north of 100. Thompson also featured in the Te Whanganui-a-Tara squad that were runners up at the inaugral National Tāne competition earlier this year.

Oli Tewatiya is a promosing all-rounder who features both batting and spin in his arsenal. Tewatiya moved to New Zealand from India when he was 10 years old, and finds inspiration in another Wellington cricketer. 

• "Tewatiya said he drew a lot of inspiration from Ravindra. "He is like me, and he's playing for the BLACKCAPS. He inspires me because if he can do it, I can also do it." interview credit: RNZ

Ryan Tsourgas is a pace bowler who has already featured heavily for the New Zealand U19 Men in their World Cup Qualifiers, taking 3/12 in a match where New Zealand beat Vanuatu by a whopping 396 runs. He was also a strong feature in the recent U19 Men's Tournament in Lincoln.

Two more Wellington players, Henry Christie and Amogh Paranjpe have been included as non-traveling reserves for the squad, who may be called on in case of injury.

With six features in the wider squad, Wellington has the most inclusions in the country, with National Champions Auckland second-most at five inclusions.

Cricket Wellington extends its congratulations to all of those selected for the U19 Men's World Cup in South Africa. The tournament will take place in January 2024.

Article added: Thursday 14 December 2023