Northern Territory cricket will be on the national stage this week when the Male Under-19 National Championships are staged in the NSW city of Albury.
Under 19s Prepare for National Championships
Right-arm fast bowler and middle order bat Tom Menzies will captain the NT against Pool A opponents Victoria Metro (November 30), NSW Country (December 1), South Australia (December 3) and NSW Metro (December 4) in the 50-over one-day format.
The winning state or territory will take home the inaugural Rod Marsh Shield, named after the late Rod Marsh, one of Australia's greatest wicketkeepers and a former U19 and national cricket academy coach.
The NT's first Australian U19 squad member since South Australian and Tasmanian finger spinner Tom Andrews in 2014, 18-year-old Menzies has played all of his local junior and senior cricket at Darwin and Districts side Darwin and has been identified as a future leader at all levels.
Waratah off-spinning allrounder and Level 3 coach Udara Weerasinghe will enter his second year as the Territory's coach and expects the 14-man squad under his tutelage to perform well at Albury.
Weerasinghe is unconcerned at the high quality opponents in the Territory's Pool, with both NSW sides expected to provide strong competition, along with the powerful Vic Metro side drawn from the Melbourne district competition and traditional rivals South Australia.
"Of course it will be a challenge, the players and the coaching staff know that and the tests we face against the allround depth these big states have will be big,'' Weerasinghe said.
"But we want to play some good cricket and learn a lot about ourselves at the same time, these championships loom as a giant learning curve for every player wearing an NT cap.''
Weerasinghe has placed big expectations on Menzies' leadership qualities and ability with the ball after he became only the second Territorian in a decade to be selected in the national U19 squad.
"Tom is a good communicator who leads from the front and will be a key player for us in Albury,'' he added.
"Along with experienced players like top order bat Clancy McCormick, who is the oldest player in our squad, and a young player who can contribute with the bat and the ball in Nicholas Fleming," he added.
Six interstate players have been recruited to add batting and bowling depth to the squad.
NSW wicketkeeper Dhanvi Vemulapalli will don the gloves, with Victorians Arjun Sehrawat and Everett Oxenham assisting Palmerston spinner Jayden Chatto in the slow bowling department.
NSW right-arm quick Joel Wright and left handed fast man Luke Tully add some variety in the speed department.
Weerasinghe played in the NT side that won the national country title in Albury a decade ago and knows the turf wickets in the region will suit the Territory players.
"They are flat wickets that suit batters but still give the bowlers who work hard a chance,'' he said.
"That's what we'll be doing, working hard in every aspect of the game to put some uncertainty in our opponents.''