Victorian Junior sides all set for National Championships challenge
After two titles and two runners-up finishes last year, Victoria's junior sides will be looking to build on their momentum from 2024 when they get their chance to compete at the National Championships in Perth later this week.
Victoria’s junior teams are in their final preparations for another National tournament, with the Junior National Championships scheduled to take place from 6 to 12 July at Striker Indoor Sports and Seamer Indoor Sports in Perth, Western Australia.
The uptake in player participation will see Victoria send eight teams to the competition this year, with a second Under-16 Boys team added in.
The Victorian sides acquitted themselves well on home turf in 2024, with the Under-18 Girls and Under-14 Boys becoming champions, whilst there were also two runners-up finishes and an appearance in the preliminary final across the seven teams who competed.
They will be looking for continued success at this year’s edition. Whilst the next edition of the WICF Junior World Series is not until next year, there will be plenty of focus for the teams in Perth.
Under-18 Boys
2024 Result: Preliminary Final
2024 Record: Played 11 - Won 7, Lost 4 (qualified 4th in round-robin)
After losing a tight preliminary final to Queensland last year, the traditionally strong Under-18 Boys side will be hoping to go one better in advancing to the grand final this year.
Coach Geoff Latham had a strong group of players to select from this year and has been happy with their preparations. “We have a really mature group this year and very evenly balanced which is obviously key for tournaments like this. Our preparation has been strong as well as the development of our players during this period. We have had a bit of outside influence this year from previous players and coaches who were all really impressed with where the boys were at leading into the tournament” said Latham.
Squad: Lucas Smith, Ryan Hughes, Aston Buffey, Cooper Dornan, Zack Watson, Ashen Hettinayaka Mudiyanselage, Braydon Almond, Namish Saini, Noah Adamson, Joshua Planinic.
Coach: Geoff Latham
Assistant Coach: Ethan Davies
Manager: Sandy Davies
Under-18 Girls
2024 Result: Champions
2024 Record: Played 10 - Won 6, Lost 4 (qualified 3rd in round-robin)
The Under-18 Girls were champions last year, after coming through a preliminary final, to defeat New South Wales in the final.
The team will be looking to build towards another title this year under coach, but with a significantly different team. Just three players from last year’s championship-winning side are in the squad again, with some players making the move up to the Opens squads. They will still be intent on featuring in the back end of the tournament come finals time.
Squad: Sophie Betts, Ellie Bryant, Mikayla Lewis-Simmonds, Rasandi Padmaperuma, Mikayla Sekhon, Ocienne Farquharson, Robyn Solmon, Giulia Kopievsky, Emily Davey.
Coach: Adelaide Campion
Manager: Samantha Arscott
Under-16 Boys
2024 Result: Runners-Up
2024 Record: Played 12 - Won 7, Lost 5 (qualified 4th in round-robin)
After finishing runners-up to Queensland last year, the Under-16 Boys will have high expectations going into the competition this year. They are bolstered by having two sides entered into this year’s edition, reflecting the popularity at junior level.
“We have a strong team this year. They all bring different elements to the game and compliment each other well. The leadership group is focused and looking forward to leading the team, hopefully this year to winning the championship” said David Anderson, team manager.
Anderson says there has been ten weeks of preparation for the team, with not just technical skills developed, but also soft skills just as communication and expectations. “The new players have gelled well into the Under-16 set up. The existing players have the experience and enthusiasm from playing last year and you can see the drive the team has to take it all the way this year.”
Victoria Green - Squad: Archer Hankin (Captain), Tanner Bell, Cooper Box, Ethan Clark, Thomas Corrie, William Henderson, Finn Huber, Kaiden Kilpatrick, Gurwinder Singh, Zach Van Der Nest, Thomas Wolfe.
Coach: Ian Fuller
Assistant Coach: Robert Fuller
Manager: David Anderson
Victoria Red - Squad: Panav Doshi, Mann Patel, Angus Fairlie, Ashton Mitchell, Harvey Broster, Finn McKee, Rhiley Almond, Hugo Paic, Jake Gorman.
Coach: Vihang Ahlawat
Manager: Vedant Ahlawat
Under-16 Girls
2024 Result: 5th
2024 Record: Played 9 - Won 0, Lost 9
A tough outing last year saw the inexperienced Under-16 side finish without a win at the competition.
With Stella De Roos taking over from Simon De Roos this year, and some Under-14 players making the move up to the Under-16 side, the team is optimistic of a better performance at this year’s tournament.
“Last year many of our Under-16 side were experiencing indoor cricket for the first time, which can be tough as there is no where to hide on an indoor court. Whilst the scores did not reflect effort put in, there were lots of small victories with individual goals achieved”, said De Roos.
“We have many new players in the team. Our pre-tournament preparation has has involved many different styles of training by our coaching team, and the side has also been playing the local super league competition and practice matches against other Victorian teams.”
Squad: Riva Guliya (Captain), Addison O'Connor, Ava Schivo, Suchitha Miranda, Guhika Vij, Skye Stroker, Georgia Leonard, Aadhya Patel, Eliza Forster, Mannat Sandhu.
Coach: Stella De Roos
Manager: Juliet Edwards
Under-14 Boys
2024 Result:
Victoria Blue: Champions
Victoria White: 5th (Plate Runners-Up)
2024 Record:
Victoria Blue: Played 10 - Won 10, Lost 0 (qualified 1st in round-robin)
Victoria White: Played 9 - Won 4, Lost 5
An undefeated record on the way to a national title was as good as it gets in indoor circles and that is exactly what the Under-14 Boys achieved in Melbourne last year. The team will be looking to maintain the same standard in Perth.
Coach Aimee Mellford said “we see this year as an exciting challenge, after being undefeated in 2024. We have trained hard over the past couple of months with many of our players new to indoor cricket. It's great to see players who have never played before enjoying the game. We will be taking that mindset into the competition.”
The second Under-14 side finished runners-up in the Plate phase of the tournament, and will be hoping for a top four finish to make the finals series. Team manager Adam Hausler says that tournament preparation has been tricky, but help from experienced personnel has helped considerably. “We have had some assistance from an ex-Victoria indoor coach with a lot of experience. With that help, we have been able to see huge improvement in both cricketing as well as mental skills. I believe we have a strong plan for the upcoming tournament” said Hausler.
Victoria Green - Squad: Elliott Huber (Captain), Jagan Tennakoon, Yashawant Chhikara, Neal Guliya, Shray Sahni, Imal Gamage, Arihant Kalla, Tanish Billa, Angus Box, Mitchell Cunningham, Sebastian Khaw.
Coach: Aimee Mellford
Assistant Coach: Mandeep Sahni
Manager: Rebecca Newman
Victoria Red - Squad: Rohan Khurana, Arvan Patil, Avaniish Kotian, Shreyash Vussainsagar, Kiaan Bhatia, Prish Patel, Callum Carvill, Oscar Paic, Chenul Mallawa Arachchige, Shreyan Reddy Gummi.
Coach: Cooper Sticht
Manager: Adam Hausler
Under-14 Girls
2024 Result: Runners-Up
2024 Record: Played 9 - Won 7, Lost 2 (qualified 1st in round-robin)
After a runners-up finish last year, the Under-14 side have lost six players to the Under-16s. Coach Tony Pahi recognises this has left the team with “minimal experience.”
“The team has been training well over the past ten weeks, with additional training through playing the superleague competition. I am looking forward to seeing how the new players adapt to playing indoor cricket and for some good team performances.”
Squad: Gurbani Kaur Nehal (Captain), Anji Yuvaraj, Sarina Hasan, Krishna Lakhanpal, Zoe Brady, Alexia May Page Villani, Vaiga Nidhiraj, Ishreet Kaur, Lahari Balla, Anvi Patel.
Coach: Tony Pahi
Manager: Juliet Edwards
Fixtures and Schedule
Australian National Championships Schedule*
Results, Scorecards and Points Table
*All playing times are Australian Western Standard Time
Live Streaming:
Cricket Australia will live stream 24 matches of the finals series across the last two days of the tournament on 11 and 12 July.
Seamer Indoor Sports will stream matches during the week from their YouTube channel.
Links:
Seamer Indoor Sports Centre - YouTube
Image: Dylan Burns Photography for Cricket Australia
