A Goulburn Valley cricket prodigy has impressed state selectors.
Old Students young gun Ash Young has been selected in the Vic Country Under-19 Emerging Players Squad for the 2024-25 season.
The squad will be mentored by former first-class player and experienced Victorian Premier Cricket coach Nick Speak, Cricket Victoria talent specialist James Miller and current and former Victorian players Xavier Crone, Travis Dean and Jon Holland.
The Vic Country squad will participate in the Under-19 National Championships in December.
Young has experience donning the Big V, with the star all-rounder representing Vic Country at the 2023-24 Under-17 National Championships.
Young struck 144 runs from six matches, with a high score of 50 and took three wickets for the tournament.
The top-order batter and fast left-arm bowler will play for Melbourne Cricket Club in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition this summer.
Vince Gagliardi, the new coach of Old Students, is connected with Young through his junior coaching days and provided insight into what led to the 17-year-old’s early success.
“(Young) is a pretty chilled character, but is very focused on his cricket as that is his passion,” Gagliardi said.
“He is a talented cricketer, but he works hard and you need both of those traits when you are competing at the elite level.
“He is very passionate and he is reaping the rewards; he had a really good tournament last year in the 17s and he has been earmarked in that pathway for a number of years with Melbourne.
“Credit to his mum and Trav (step-father) because they have done an amazing job raising him because he doesn’t get ahead of himself, which is great.”
Gagliardi said Young had the perfect mix of raw athletic talent, work ethic and determination to succeed.
The Old Students coach said it was a bonus that he was equally adept with either ball or willow in hand.
“(Young) is a left-armer and can move the ball at a reasonable pace, but then he goes and bats and he bats as an opener down in Melbourne; he can bat at three or four as well, so he is pretty versatile,” he said.
“Which gives him a lot of flexibility when you go to these (representative) teams because you can bat at not only four, five or six, he can also open or bat at three.
“Hits the ball hard, but it is an elegant (style) of hitting; it’s not slogging.
“It’s not just come to him in the last little bit; he has had it from day dot his cricket awareness.”
As Old Students look to rise back up the Haisman Shield ladder in the upcoming 2024-25 season, Gagliardi would love to have the talented Young as his ace up his sleeve.
Some would think a coach may be disappointed not to have their best young talent available to them; however, Gagliardi said the fact that Young has found success at representative cricket demonstrates the quality of Cricket Shepparton’s junior pathways.
“We don’t want him here, to be honest,” he said.
“Our job is to move guys down to Melbourne through our pathways; they can always come back at a later stage.
“I think the only time we will see him in Old Students colours will be if there is a washout in Melbourne.
“He will be playing for Melbourne, probably in the twos and push for the ones, I would have thought.”