Northern Rivers under-18 and under-21 rep cricket line-up revealed

The two sides are composed of Cricket Shepparton, Goulburn Murray and Bendigo District guns aged either under 21 or under 18, featuring some of the best local and imported talent seen this season.

The Northern Rivers outfits will play two matches across the next fortnight, and should the teams place inside the top two of the five-team ladder, a one-day grand final will be played on a date still to be concluded.

The Northern Rivers under-21 side will play the Western Waves in Stawell this weekend, before hosting the Barwon Rockets at a venue yet to be determined, while the under-18s face Mallee Murray in Kerang, before playing Central Highlands out in Castlemaine.

The under-21s 12-man squad features four Haisman Shield players - Pine Lodge import Dylan Hardy, Karramomus’ Declan Newbound and Bailey Simpson and Mooroopna’s Ben Woods as well as former Lodger Emile Haratbar (Nathalia).

Hardy has scored the third-most runs in the Haisman Shield this season despite the Lodgers’ winless record, while Newbound and Simpson have been consistently on the mark for the Bloods in the strong start to their campaign.

Former Central Park-St Brendan’s all-rounder Keiran Hogeboom, now at Bendigo Cricket Club, also makes the list as skipper.

The under-18s side holds three Cricket Shepparton names - Central Park-St Brendan’s’ Alexander Robertson, Shepparton Youth Club United’s Rayyan Mirza, and Karramomus’ Zavier Davidson, who has been named as skipper for the XI.

Davidson has impressed at Haisman Shield level in between stints for Essendon’s Premier cricket under-18s side, while Mirza and Robertson have enjoyed fruitful performances in the Clyde Young Shield, with the latter also cracking the Tigers’ A-grade outfit in between under-18 games for Premier cricket club Prahan.