Oliver Peake picked by Australia A despite his tender age alongside veterans Jake Weatherald and Kurtis Patterson.
Despite having only played one first-class match, 18-year-old Victoria batter Oliver Peake has been selected for the Australia A team to play Sri Lanka A in a multiformat series in Darwin next month.
Peake, who made his first-class debut in March, is the star of a mixed squad that includes injury-prone 25-year-old Western Australia quick Bryce Jackson, who has only played five List A games and has not yet played first-class cricket, as well as some seasoned Sheffield Shield players Jake Weatherald and Kurtis Patterson.
Peake’s selection to play in three 50-over matches and two four-day matches against Sri Lanka A in Darwin in July was long anticipated, and it demonstrates how highly the left-hander is regarded by Australia’s selectors following his inclusion on the Test tour of Sri Lanka as a development player.
Peake’s first-class debut on a challenging pitch at the WACA field saw him score 52 and 21. Campbell Kellaway, a 22-year-old left-hander from Victoria, was the game’s standout, scoring an undefeated 165 in the second innings to help Victoria win. Additionally, he was selected in the Australia A squad as a reward for his outstanding second half of the Shield season.
The seasoned names of Weatherald and Patterson have been included, along with fringe Test batters Nathan McSweeney and Matt Renshaw.
After a stellar Shield season for Tasmania, Weatherald, 30, has been rewarded with his first-ever Australia A selection in his nine-year first-class career. He opened the batting with three spectacular innings of 186, 155, and 145, and topped the Shield run-scoring with 906 runs at 50.33. Given that Weatherald was born and raised in Darwin before relocating to play state cricket for Tasmania and South Australia, his selection is all the more noteworthy.
Jason Sangha was also chosen for the team as a reward for his Shield season. Although a captain has not yet been chosen, McSweeney seems to be the most likely choice considering that he has guided South Australia to their first Shield title in 29 years and has led Australia’s A/Prime Minister’s XI six times.
The bowling group is undeveloped and was chosen more for their potential than for their top-tier performance, but the batting will have many seasoned players in addition to Peake and Kellaway.
Todd Murphy, a test spinner, was supposed to be the attack’s most seasoned bowler, but he reportedly signed a last-minute contract in England for a five-week county spell. A replacement for Murphy, the sole specialist spinner in the initial squad, might be recruited in the next few days.
“We’ve picked a balanced squad which provides a number of options, which we expect will be required over the course of the series,” Bailey said. “Jake Weatherald, Jason Sangha and Kurtis Patterson have all had dominant Sheffield Shield seasons and earned the opportunity to test themselves against international opposition.
“Additionally, there is a strong presence of emerging talent in the squad who will benefit from playing alongside senior players including Nathan McSweeney and Matthew Renshaw who bring substantial experience at ‘A’ level.”