The North's top young talent will be given the chance to expand, with 12 players selected in Cricket Tasmania's pathway academy.
Riverside quintet Cooper Anthes, Jack Manix-Geeves, Aidan O'Connor, Arie Schoenmaker and James Simpson are joined by Mowbray's Sam Freeman and Spencer Hayes, Launceston's Will Bennett and Charlie Taylor, South Launceston's Angus Foster and Charlie Skipper and Julius Kerwin, who has relocated to the North from Ulverstone.
The pathway academy, which is a high-performance program split across each region of the state, features players between the ages of 15 and 18 who are considered to have the attributes to perform at a higher level.
They sit below the premier academy, full of open-aged players who play in the Premier League competition and have proven themselves at that level and could strive for higher honours.
The programs will be held throughout July and August to get players ready to perform for the Greater Northern Raiders and their Cricket North clubs as well as forming part of selection for the under-17 and under-19 national championships.
While the academy program and several other opportunities for player growth were put on hold last season due to COVID-19, Cricket Tasmania's head of pathways and talent management Ali De Winter, said it was great to see it restart.
"Whilst we noticed the flow-on effects that COVID-19 had on the highest level of sport in 2020 and beyond, across all sports - not just cricket - it was commonly the next group of athletes, the emerging talent, that suffered most due to program cancellations or restrictions," he said.
"Despite the lack of programs and tournaments for the guys at this level last season, they have still been really working hard on their cricket, so we're thrilled that we can start programs like the academy up again to really nurture the next generation of Tasmanian cricket talent."
The announcement comes after Northern players Meg Radford, Ava Curtis and Charlotte Layton were named in the female Tigers development program last month.
Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
