Australian legend Steve Waugh's son Austin Waugh has made it to Australia U-19 team for next year's U19 World Cup in New Zealand.
His selection came after Austin displayed his talent both with the bat and the bowl in a one-day series between Australia U-19s and Sri Lanka’s youth team in April this year.
The Kangaroos will be led by Jason Sangha from New South Wales in the U-19 World Cup. Former Australian fast bowler Ryan Harris will join the team as head coach, who will be assisted by former Australian opener Chris Rogers.
The son of Australia's 1999 World Cup winning captain made headlines when he scored 61 runs in just 48 balls playing in the semifinal Under 17 National Championships in Brisbane in 2015.
Just a year later, Austin went on to score an unbeaten century for Metro New South Wales in the final of the national under-17 cricket championships and led his side to another win. He was also the leading run-scorer of the tournament for NSW, scoring 372 runs at an average of 74.4.
Speaking on the squad, National Talent Manager Greg Chappel told reporters: “This is a very exciting squad and there is some exceptional talent within this group. We’ve got a good spread of skills through the squad. We’re quite strong with our pace bowling, we have good depth with our spin bowling, and a number of our top-order batsmen all offer viable bowling options, which gives us a lot of flexibility when it comes to team selection.”
He further added that Australia are contenders to win the title. “We believe this squad has a serious chance of contending for the title at the end of the tournament,” Chappel said.
The U-19 World Cup will start from January 13 and will continue till February 3 in New Zealand. Australia, who are placed in Group B, will take on Prithvi Shaw-led India U-19 team on January 14 in Mount Maunganui in their first match.
Australia squad: Jason Sangha (C) (NSW), Will Sutherland (VC) (Vic), Xavier Bartlett (Qld), Max Bryant (Qld), Jack Edwards (NSW), Zak Evans (Vic), Jarrod Freeman (Tas), Ryan Hadley (New South Wales), Baxter Holt (NSW), Nathan McSweeney (Qld), Jonathan Merlo (Vic), Lloyd Pope (SA), Jason Ralston (NSW), Param Uppal (NSW), Austin Waugh (NSW)
(WIth PTI inputs)
