Ollie Davis smashed six sixes in an over and hit a double-century in an U-19 tournament in Adelaide (0:54)
Beaten Sheffield Shield finalists New South Wales have upgraded left-arm quicks Daniel Sams and Greg West to their contract list for 2019-20 as they continue to develop youth.
The Blues have kept a fairly stable squad after falling just short of claiming the Shield against a dominant Victoria side.
Sams, 26, has been rewarded after an excellent JLT Cup last season. He also made his Sheffield Shield debut playing two matches prior to the BBL break. West, 24, also impressed in his first two Sheffield Shield matches, taking five wickets against South Australia on debut and three against Victoria.
New South Wales were keen to keep continuity within the squad that was revamped under new coach Phil Jaques last season. Teenagers Jack Edwards, Jason Sangha and Baxter Holt all debuted last season with Edwards and Sangha playing all 11 Shield games in order to fast-track their development as long-term players.
“When you try to develop players, you want to give them an opportunity to do well,” Jaques said. “We obviously want to reward performance as well which we’ve done with the changes that we’ve made.
“I think the long-term development of the core group of young guys is still, very, very important, as is the leadership that the [senior players] have shown over the last 12 months.”
Young batsman Ollie Davies, 18, and wicketkeeper batsman Matt Gilkes, 19, have both been handed rookie contracts. Davies became the first player to make a double century in a 50-over match at the Australian Under-19 Championships last season while Gilkes made 51 on BBL debut for Sydney Thunder.
New South Wales 2019-20 contract list Peter Nevill, Sean Abbott, Nick Bertus, Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Daniel Fallins, Ryan Gibson, Liam Hatcher, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Stephen O’Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha, Param Uppal, Greg West, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner Rookies Ryan Hackney, Ryan Hadley, Baxter Holt, Oliver Davies, Matt Gilkes, Chad Sammut
Source: ESPN Crickinfo