| Player: | DJ Cullen, MJ Cosgrove, BW Hilfenhaus, SE Marsh, CB Bailey, MC Henriques, AB McDonald, LR Butterworth, AC Voges |
South Australian pair Mark Cosgrove and Daniel Cullen head a squad chosen to take part in a 19-week programme with the Australian Institute of Sport, Cricket Australia said Friday.
A squad is chosen every year to train at the country's premier sporting facility and is a gauge of up and coming cricket talent in the country.
The 16-member squad will play in a tournament for emerging players in Brisbane from July 16-27 against teams from South Africa, New Zealand and a Karnataka State team from India. The programme concludes with a tour to India in August. Left-handed batsman Cosgrove, 22, has played three one-day internationals and off-spinner Cullen, 22, has played five ODIs. The squad will begin the programme on April 23 under academy head coach Tim Nielsen in Adelaide. In addition to the AIS squad, selectors have also chosen six players to attend the institute on a part-time basis. They are Ben Hilfenhaus, Shaun Marsh and Cullen Bailey along with Moises Henriques, Andrew McDonald and Luke Butterworth. "We have selected these players to benefit the short-term and long-term future of Australian cricket and believe we have an even distribution of batsmen and bowlers who are all capable of playing at the next level," chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said in a statement. Two of last year's AIS scholars have already graduated to the senior national team, with Adam Voges selection in the 13 for the Perth Ashes Test and Ben Hilfenhaus' recent debut for Australia at one-day level.
The AIS scholarship intake for 2007 is: Michael Hill (Victoria), Peter Siddle (Victoria), Aaron Finch (Victoria), Ed Cowan (NSW), David Warner (NSW), Philip Hughes (NSW), Craig Phillipson (Queensland), Grant Sullivan (Queensland), Brendan Drew (Tasmania), Matthew Wade (Tasmania), Luke Pomersbach (Western Australia), Luke Ronchi (Western Australia), Shawn Gillies (Western Australia), Aaron Heal (Western Australia), Mark Cosgrove (South Australia) and Daniel Cullen (South Australia).