We are delighted to invite the following 26 young players to form the National A-Team Pool, taking part in the regular, twice weekly, training programme in preparation for tournaments and tours later in the year. This follows a tight selection process involving nominations from ACA Clubs, followed by training sessions, a first ever trial and taking into account previous performances of players in ACA league cricket.

The initial pool of players come from 10 ACA clubs and range in age from 16 to 28 years of age.

 

This heralds a new phase in the development of Austrian cricket and builds on the work carried out by many promoting the development of youth cricket and linking this with the future National Team goals. As it is focused on the future, only players up to the age of 30 are eligible and selection has been based purely on ability and potential – players who have the potential to be stars in the National Teams of the future and to contribute to building a stronger future for cricket in Austria.

Coaching will be headed and led by Oscar Wanigasekera and he will be supported by Marcel Biersteker. As with the other SNASY initiatives, this program is supported and underpinned by the Austria Cricket Association – Österreich Cricket Verband.

The quality of players available and strength in depth is such that in addition to the 26 players who have been selected to the National A-Team Pool, two others have been invited to attend all sessions to benefit from the training and a further 10 are on STANDBY. The Standby players will be invited regularly, but less frequently, to take part and benefit from the development environment. It should be stressed that an initial Pool has been selected, but it will be constantly reviewed and may change based on performances and commitment.  All players, who are invited to attend the training, have the chance to be included in the Pool and in the exciting fixtures that lie ahead.

Other players who were nominated, mostly younger players, will continue to attend the SNASY Academy to further develop their skills – their time will come!

In addition, some of our talented young Austrians are playing cricket in the UK.  As the A-Team will be touring the UK in August, these players will be invited to join us for training in the UK.

 

National A-Team Pool

Austria CC – Navin Wijesekera, Abdullah Khan Ahmadzai, Aqib Iqbal, Habibullah Aman, Rayhaan Ahmed, Razmal Shigiwal, Shivam Subhash

Afghan Steiermark CC – Shadnan Khan, Pamir Khan, Habib Ahmadzai, Zakhil Farmanullah, Atif Sohail

Bangladesh CCA – Iqbal Hossain

Cricketers CC – Mohamad Waqar Zalmai, Baser Khan, Amanullah Ahmadzai, Nazim Sahel, Mumtaz Tanha

Lords CC – Kunal Joshi, Sahil Bharti

Pakistan CC – Arslan Arif

Riders CC – Kailash Klair, Ahmad Mirza Ahsa

Sri Lanka CC – Nuwan Sameera Ranaweera

Vienna CC – Mark Simpson-Parker

Vienna Lions CC – Sandeep Kumar

Invited to attend all training sessions – to develop their skills and in acknowledgment of their contribution the development of cricket in Austria

Austria CC – Taqi Rezai, Andrea Zepeda 

Standby Players – to be invited to attend as requested (once a fortnight)

Austria CC – Akhilesh Kapdi, Jamil Bahramkhil

Austrian Cricket Tigers – Sohaib Farooq

Afghan Steiermark CC – Sadaqat Khan

Bangladesh CCA – Rakib Islam

Cricketers CC – Mohamed Bilal Zalmai (due to current injury – when fit, will join Pool)

Riders CC – Asim Ijaz, Tariq Umar

Vienna CC – Akbarjan Abdullah, Shakil Khan

UK Based Players

Armaan Randhawa, Lakmal Kasturiarachchige, Interzar Ijaz, Satyam Subhash

We congratulate all the players who have been nominated and thank them for their interest and commitment to Austrian Cricket and wish Good Luck to all those selected – and those who might still be!