Cricket’s future stars: A look at the Victoria Country and Metro Under 17 male squads

Victoria has named its Under 17 male cricket squads. Here’s a run-down on every player in the Country and Metro squads — all 28 names examined.

Victorian selectors have picked in-form and talented players for the Under 17 Male Championships in Ballarat in January.

Victoria will send two teams — Metro and Country — to the annual tournament which is a proven stepping stone to higher honours.

Geelong star Ollie Peake will keep bowlers busy for Victoria Country while Alex Turner and Archie Flynn will have big tournaments for the Metro outfit.

Victoria Metro will be coached by Prahran CC head coach Julien Wiener with Melbourne University head coach Daniel Hutton as an assistant coach.

Cricket Victoria Talent Development Specialist Shane Koop will coach Victoria Country alongside Richmond head coach Shannon Young as an assistant coach.

Here is each player from Victoria Metro and Victoria Country examined ahead of a must-watch carnival.

VICTORIA COUNTRY

Oliver Peake (Geelong)

One of the region’s brightest cricketing prospects, the 17-year-old scored his inaugural first grade hundred for Geelong on Saturday against Greenvale. Named captain of the under-17 squad, Peake has been picked in the country under-17 and 19 squads the past two years.

Darcy Aitken (Geelong)

The Ararat batter was picked in the under-17 Emerging Players squad in July this year, alongside squad members Zane Attard, Fletcher Grimsey-Cook and Elwood Geary.

Zane Attard (Geelong)

A right arm off spinner and middle order batter, Attard’s game has developed well over the past 12 months, Geelong Cricket Club’s director of cricket Travis Agg says. Attard has been picked in the Cats’ second grade team this year, taking 2-62 against Frankston Peninsula in Round 2.

Darcy Aitken. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Zane Attard. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Jobe Fraser (Camberwell Magpies)

The left-handed opening batter who hails from Yarrawonga Mulwala showed his class in the J.G Craig Shield under-15 tournament while playing for Malvern last season, topping the run scoring charts for the South group with 243 at 60.75, including a century and two half-tons. Also an excellent leg-spin bowler.

Elwood Geary (Geelong)

A promising fast bowler, Geary has played two games in the Cats’ third grade this summer.

Fletcher Grimsey-Cook (Geelong)

A left arm spinner and batter, Grimsey-Cook made 58 with 11 boundaries batting at nine against Greenvale Kangaroos in Premier seconds on Saturday, and 17 in Round 2 against Frankston Peninsula.

Fletcher Grimsey-Cook. Picture: Alan Barber

Lachlan Hay (Footscray)

A match-winning all-rounder from Gisborne who is a right-hand batter and off spinner. Made 82 in Footscray’s thirds last season, and also took a five-wicket haul. Playing in the Dogs’ seconds this season.

Tyler Hunter (Melbourne)

Bowls a heavy ball and hits the ball hard, Hunter is an exciting all-rounder who was included in the trial process after being identified during Round 1 of the newly formed U18 Premier Cricket competition.

Jackson Jarvis

The Ballan Bullet: the young paceman has speed to burn and is a player to watch.

Lincoln Koliba (Dandenong)

The right-hander showed off his immense talent with a splendid 110 in a recent Victorian Premier Cricket 3rd XI match. Also made a 95 in Dowling Shield last season.

Eddie Kreutzberger on the drive. Picture: Facebook

Eddie Kreutzberger (Melbourne Uni)

The left-hand batter and wicketkeeper hails from St Patricks in Albury and makes the state side as a bottom-age player, and is definitely a player of the future.

Monty Maloney

The boy from Mildura is a talented all-rounder who has excelled at representative level, with runs and wickets. Goes to school in Ballarat.

Tanush Nandini (Ringwood)

A hard-working leg spinner who continues to improve, adding to his repertoire while bowling with good control.

Ashton Young (Melbourne)

The left-hand batter and left-arm medium fast bowler from Shepparton made an unbeaten 70 in a recent U19 Victoria Country trial match. A player of the future.

VICTORIA METRO

Alex Turner (Prahran)

A name that will be mentioned in Victorian cricket circles for many years to come. Turner often plays out of his age group, so it will be interesting to see how far ahead he is of those his own age.

Lucas Brasher (Carlton)

Brasher is an exciting spinner who has already got a taste of high-level cricket. He made his debut for Carlton’s First XI as a 15-year-old back in 2022. “This is an exciting opportunity for Lucas and a big moment for our club,” Blues captain-coach Evan Gulbis said at the time.

Jack Czosnek (Richmond)

Czosnek is a right-handed top-order bat that hits the ball powerfully while remaining technically correct. He is also a dangerous player in the field.

Nikki Du Toit (Melbourne)

Du Toit is also technically superb and a terrific fielder, but has a big strength in game awareness with an ability to understand what is required at specific moments of the game. His specialty is with the bat but also bowls handy leggies.

Archie Flynn (Ringwood)

A left-handed top-order bat who has chipped away at Ringwood. He always looks like he has more time than others at the crease and pounces on anything short.

Aayan Nadeem. Picture: Mark Stewart

Aayan Nadeem (Footscray)

An incredibly skillful striker of the ball. Unlike other stroke-makers, Nadeem can hit 360 degrees and can also shift through the gears, allowing him to bat between No.1-6 in the order. Bowls tidy left-arm mediums too.

Tom Paddington (St Kilda)

A tall fast-bowler that shapes the ball away from the right-handers. His height and action allows him to get the ball through at a nice pace.

Lachlan Quinn (Ringwood)

Quinn is a left-handed wicketkeeper-bat that plays out of Ringwood. He is never short of energy in the field and is capable of batting at any place in the order.

Cooper Rojko (St Kilda)

One of Brighton Grammar’s brightest prospects in the APS cricket program as the captain this year.

James Rosham (Melbourne)

Rosham is an uber-talented cricketer with his capacity with both bat and ball. He will play plenty of cricket this summer across Victoria, Melbourne and school cricket.

Aryan Sharma (Carlton)

Metro’s X-Factor for this tournament through his capacity to change the game in quick fashion with the bat. Additionally, Sharma bowls good left-arm off-spin and is a strong fielder.

Gurbir Singh (St Kilda)

Singh is one of Metro’s pace bowlers. He has a strong action and hits the wicket hard.

Jesse Van Rooyen (Prahran)

A top-order bat that is very busy with his feet. He chimes in with some economical mediums through the middle overs of the innings.

Dylan Walker (Ringwood)

Walker’s left-arm off-spin hinges on his relentless accuracy and sly changes of pace. His accuracy allows him to bowl at any stage of the match.