Plumb wrote:Senor Moto Gadili wrote:Pumba wrote:whats the story with the U21 team? who do they play and whats the standard like? i hear training starts tonight
Yes training starts tonite at Adelaide Oval. Jeff Rogerson is the coach of the ATCA U21 team and he does a fantastic job. This is his third year and he always works hard to ensure he gets a good side to represent ATCA. A couple of years ago he and Wayne Phillips organised for the ATCA U21s to play the SACA U17s on Adelaide Oval No. 2.
They play for the SAMCA Cup and are scheduled to play 3 games against PDCA, Adelaide & Suburban and Churches and Community. The last two years Churches & Community haven't got an U21 team up, but hopefully that changes this year. Standard is pretty good. There isn't a lot between the 3 teams that have competed in the last two years - some very good cricketers
Is it a true indication of the best U21 cricketers in ATCA? Or is it the same as the open age ATCA team where quite often not the best players in the comp play (often due to not making themselves available)?
I would say it's the best available team ATCA can put together. All clubs were given plenty of advance notice about upcoming training sessions. If individuals opt not to participate then that's their call. Not much you can do about it although Jeff is pretty proactive in chasing talent. I'm sure PDCA, Adelaide & Suburban and Churches & Community are in same boat. At the end of the day the standard of cricket in Under 21's last few years has been pretty good.