Coach sees potential in team

Adam Miles
Adam Miles
Otago under-17 coach Adam Miles is cautiously optimistic his side will do well at the national tournament in Lincoln beginning tomorrow.

The team boasts a ''pretty strong'' batting order. Cameron Elliott impressed for Albion in the weekend with 73 not out and he will bat in the middle order.

He is rated highly as a left-arm wrist spinner, so any runs he can contribute will be a bonus.

The likes of Beckham Wheeler-Greenall and Jacob Cumming are expected to be among the runs at the top of the order.

Jacob is the son of former Otago and Black Caps opener Craig Cumming, so he has a good pedigree. Wheeler-Greenall played for the Otago under-19 side alongside strike bowler Michael Ruske, and those two shape as the stars.

''They are two guys that have had experience at under-19 level,'' Miles said.

''Beckham will definitely have a top order batting spot and Michael will have a key role with the new ball, but also through the middle and at the death as well.''

The format for the one-day tournament is nice and simple. Each team will play one game against the other five sides. The top two ranked sides after the round-robin will contest the final on January 24. There are playoffs for third-fourth and fifth-sixth, as well.

Otago will open its campaign against Wellington tomorrow.

It had two warm-up games against Canterbury and was competitive in both matches.

''This is the first time we've seen a lot of these guys at national level, so the message will be similar to the message for the under-19s. That is to compete for long periods of time and to try and stay in the game.

''We still have a developmental focus, so we want guys to go away and get as much opportunity as possible.''

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