PREMIER cricketer Blake Thomson is vying for another Victorian under-17 state cap.
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Thomson, an East Ballarat export, and fellow Central Highlands Pathways players Jakob Tidyman (Carisbrook/North Ballarat) and Matt Underwood (Gisborne) are named in a Vic Country squad for state trials later this month.
Country will battle Vic Metro in a multi-format series at under-17 and under-19 levels in Cobram and Barooga, with an additional trial match for under-17 in November to finalise the Victorian team leading into nationals.
Thomson was part of the Victorian team as a bottom-age player last summer. The promising batsman moved to Victorian Premier Cricket club Melbourne with brother Darcy last season to fine-tune their games.
Tidyman has been impressing in North Ballarat firsts’ top order in the Ballarat Cricket Association and reached last season’s Vic Country squad intake.
Underwood had an injury-riddled season with premier club Greenvale but showed promising form in the seconds.
He has transferred to premier club Footscray-Edgewater in the off-season.
Victorian Bushrangers rookie and East Ballarat export Matt Short remains eligible for the Victorian under-19 team but will miss the trial series in Cobram/Barooga due to Bushrangers duties.
The Country-Metro trial series will feature a two-day match, a Twenty20 and one-day game.
Since the series was established in 2012, Victoria has finished first and second in the under-17 national championships.
Players selected for the series will attend a preparation day at Maribyrnong College on September 14 for skills drills.
Meanwhile, Matt Short has started with the Bushrangers in a pre-season tournament against Tasmania.
Short featured in a brief partnership with Alex Keath in the Bushrangers’ two-wicket win in the series opener on Sunday in Queensland.
The tour will include training sessions at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane.
Short is part of a 19-man Bushrangers squad that will contest five one-dayers and one two-day fixture for a warm-up to the interstate one-day cup, which starts on October 4.
melanie.whelan@fairfaxmedia.com.au