NZ u-19

[Salamuddin]

Tim, do NZL have a lot of talent at u-19 level ?
Is there a lot interest in the game amongst boys in that age group ?

iN Australia, the general impression conveyed by the media is that NZ's best athletic talent is inevitably snapped up by NZRU.

 

[Tim]

Good question James.

Well about this time last year, NZ Cricket changed the wage structure for FC players in New Zealand...there are now very good wages for the players & there are pathways in place for players to move from Grade to FC to International etc.

Rugby will always have the most interest in NZ, but cricket is unrivaled by any other sport in the summer so they can pick up numbers from there...over 100 000 people played cricket last season..apparently there has been a 3% increase every year, for the last 3 years. Which is terriffic considering, how poor NZ was about 5 or 6 years ago..nobody really wanted to play a game that we sucked at.

At U19 level there is an immense amount of talent..you can see that by the totals teams are posting & the bowling figures of certain players. It's now a matter of keeping that talent in the system & making sure it reaches the top level.
I think in the first round of the Provincial U19 tournament, every team had a player who scored a century..and sometimes more than 1 player.

But then again, no doubt the standard has also improved in other countries, so I think the next U19 World Cup will be the best yet.

 

[southern man]

We have got plenty of talent, my mates dad coaches the otago u19 team and he said that he is amazed with the talent that is coming through.