Cricket’s future stars: A look at the Victoria Country and Metro Under 19 female squads

Victoria has named its Under 19 female 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 19 Female Championships in Brisbane in December.

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

Established Vic Country stars Milly Illingworth and Sara Kennedy will cause headaches for opposition batters, while Metro is filled with some promising up-and-comers.

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

VICTORIA METRO

Ira Aery (Essendon Maribyrnong Park Ladies CC)

One of three players picked out of the under 16s. Right-arm fast bowler, opens the bowling for EMP and captured a bag of wickets last weekend. At 14, she’s an up-and-coming talent not only with the ball but also with the bat.

Ruby Cullinan (Melbourne CC)

One of the fastest bowlers in the side who can grab early wickets. In her final year of under 19s and will look to make an impact.

Samara Dulvin (Ringwood CC)

Participated in the Cricket Australia Under 19 Lanning-Perry series. A quality batter, technically very sound.

Amelie Gladman (Box Hill CC)

Has had a couple of standout years in Premier Cricket, especially last season with the gloves for Box Hill. Gets her first crack at U19 nationals.

Amanpreet Kaur (Essendon Maribyrnong Park Ladies CC)

A consistent performer who has been in the program for a couple of years, this is her first time representing Victoria at under 19 level. Her inswing bowling is sure to pose problems for opposition batters.

Vaishnavi Munukutla (Box Hill CC)

A right-arm leggie that was in the Cricket Australia under-19 Lanning-Perry series. She puts great revolutions on the ball and challenges the outside of the edge of the bat of right-handers.

Amelie O’Meara (Melbourne)

A promising young bat that has bided her time behind some established stars at Melbourne. She certainly has all the fundamentals to be a star of women’s cricket however, striking three centuries in a month earlier this year.

Lucy Page (Prahran)

Page, who crossed to Prahran this season, has had plenty of opportunity with both and ball so far this summer. She is yet to show her full potential but is supremely gifted with both.

Lucy Page. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Mia Perrin (Prahran)

Perrin wastes no time at the top of the order, putting bowlers on the back foot from ball one. She will enter the tournament in blistering form, having already crunched a better-than-run-a-ball 93 for Prahran.

Sarnsiree Plant (Box Hill)

Known more commonly as Sonny, Plant is a batting all-rounder that bowls off-spin. She will surprise a few opposition bats in the field if they try to sneak a single on her arm.

Tegan Rule (Ringwood)

The Rams all-rounder is getting plenty of opportunity with both bat and ball so far this summer. She hasn’t made the most of her opportunities with the bat to date but has performed strongly with the ball by taking a wicket in each outing.

Zoe Samuel (Melbourne)

A gifted all-rounder that is going to only improve with the amount of cricket she will play this summer. Not only will Samuel play for Melbourne and Victoria, she is keeping the boys in the APS competition busy too.

Zoe Samuel. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Isabel White (Box Hill)

White was one of Box Hill’s most reliable bowlers last summer. While she didn’t take an abundance of wickets, her economy was terrific. White got her reward in the wickets column during a match against Melbourne when she jagged 5-22 off 10,

VICTORIA COUNTRY

Sara Burns (Carlton)

It’s Burns’ first selection in the under-19 carnival and Victoria is keen to see how she performs. She is one of the few left-handed top-order bats in the two squads.

Aanliya Cheeran (Geelong)

Cheeran has been on the Victorian radar for a while now after having shown signs for previous club Plenty Valley. Her tidy leg-spin causes lots of problems for Premier Cricket’s best bats.

Tia Davidge (Essendon Maribyrnong Park)

Davidge has been around the strong EMP side for some time and enters the tournament in strong form having performed well in the Lanning-Perry series with the bat and gloves.

Poppy Gardner (Dandenong)

It’s often easy to forget how young Gardner is because she has been around the system and a star of Premier Cricket for so long. A talented sports person, Gardner took a representative hat-trick and played for the Dandenong Stingrays all within the space of a fortnight last year.

Hasrat Gill (Melbourne)

One of, if not the, most promising up-and-coming spinners in Victoria. Already contracted by the Melbourne Stars, Gill is starting to make movements with her batting, crunching an unbeaten half-century for Melbourne last round.

Poppy Gardner playing rep cricket.

Hasrat Gill. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images for Cricket Australia)

Milly Illingworth (Essendon Maribyrnong Park)

If she’s already frightening established cricketers with her raw pace in the WBBL, Illingworth in an under-age competition is a must watch. The speedster was clocked at an impressive 120kmph earlier this season.

Sara Kennedy (Carlton)

Kennedy checked in as one of the youngest Melbourne Renegade debutants only a week ago. She bowls left arm and bashes away at a good line and length.

Milly Illingworth. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

Sara Kennedy. (Photo by Martin Keep/Getty Images)

Bronte Leishman (Geelong)

Leishman has shown a lot of promise after playing in this tournament as an under-16 last season. A right-arm fast bowler that releases the ball at a high point due to her athleticism.

Charli McLennan (Carlton)

The under 16 eligible wicketkeeper and batter plays Premier first XI at just 15. Talented player coming through.

Grace Moyle (Carlton)

A talented batter that had an enormous under-16 carnival last summer. She also adds an element with the ball and is a strong fielder.

Indigo Noble (Melbourne)

Noble made a strong entrance into the Premier Cricket First XI last summer, with all the fundamentals to be a relentlessly accurate seam bowler.

Matilda Pendergast (Prahran)

Been in the program for a number of years, made an impact in under 16s…all-rounder with a high cricket IQ and will play an important role.

Yashoda Senarathne (Box Hill)

Another one that played in the under-19 CA series, Senarathne is a top-order bat that is starting to develop an attacking streak. Her technique has always been correct but she is starting to access more power in her stroke making.

Ribhya Syan (Prahran)

Second year playing under 19 Vic Country, the right-arm off spinner challenges the bat with a rigid line and length and is a steady contributor with the bat.