Cricket: Kurtley Watson earns his spot

Northland's Kurtley Watson has been named in the national side to contest the ICC Under-19 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Photo/File

Maungakaramea cricketer Kurtley Watson has once again been named in the New Zealand Under-19 side, this time to take part in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Watson's Northland coach Stephen Cunis noted it was a reward for the young man who consistently worked hard and tried his hardest to repay those who had showed faith in him.

"He's the sort of guy who understands and recognises the contributions others give him. It's nice that he has played well enough to represent his country and hopefully repay some of those guys in the process."

Watson has in recent times been given support from the New Zealand Refinery, Cobham Trust and Northland Cricket to play overseas during the off-season - his selection justifying their support. The 19-year-old earned his spot in the 15-man squad after strong form in the National Provincial A Tournament averaging 33.86 with the ball across four games, also averaging 41 with the bat.

Cunis noted that Watson's efforts usually come in difficult times of matches where fielding restrictions are in place, making accuracy even more important.

"Kurtley did quite well, he's got a bit of a tough job. He's bowling in the power plays and in the death, so has limited fielders in the deep. Against [Northern Districts A, which Cunis is part of coaching] he bowled three of their five overs in the power play, and out of the last 14 overs of a game he was bowling seven of them."

New Zealand Under-19 Coach Grant Bradburn said the players have worked extremely hard in their preparations and each one of them has warranted their place in the squad.

" The strides they've made over the past 12 months have been really pleasing ... we're certainly going there to try and win it and I believe we have a good chance."

The team will depart for the tournament on February 7 and play two warm-up games prior to the start of the round-robin, facing the West Indies on February 10 and Canada on February 12.

Following this they'll face fellow Pool D opponents Sri Lanka, UAE and England, before either progressing onto the quarter-finals of the main competition or entering the Plate competition.

New Zealand Under-19 World Cup Squad:

Robert O'Donnell (Auckland) (c), Jeremy Benton (Canterbury), Leo Carter (Canterbury), Henry Collier (Central Districts), Josh Finnie (Otago), Shawn Hicks (Auckland), Jack Hunter (Otago), Kyle Jamieson (Canterbury), Ken McClure (Canterbury), Brett Randell (Auckland), Tim Seifert (Northern Districts), Dane Watson (Auckland), Kurtley Watson (Northern Districts), Luke Williamson (Northern Districts), Rakitha Weerasundara (Wellington).