Victorians Adam Blackley (Cheltenham), Brad Harman (Upwey), Donovan Hendricks (Waverley), Matthew Kent (Sunshine), Paul Rutgers (Mulgrave) and Brendan Wilson (Bonbeach) have all been named in the Australian team to travel to the Intercontinental Cup to be held in Taiwan in November.
The 25-man roster for the eight-nation invitational tournament boasts seven debutants among a playing group with an average age of just 23 and the new look roster could form the basis of the team set to travel to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics.
Australian team Head Coach Jon Deeble said that while the timing of the event meant many of his “front-line” players were unavailable, it also represented a fantastic opportunity to “blood” new talent.
“For many of the guys this will be our first real chance to look at them in international competition,” he said.
“Two years down the track we are going to need a lot of these guys on our Olympic roster and we need to take the appropriate steps now to ensure they are ready.
Deeble certainly has no concerns that his young squad will be overawed by more credentialed teams from countries like Cuba, Korea and Japan.
“We have done the same thing in the past with players like (Chris) Snelling, (Ryan) Roland-Smith and (Richard) Thompson and had fantastic results,” Deeble said.
“Ultimately it will be up to the individuals to step up and say 'I’m ready to play at this level, I’m ready to represent my country’.
“We know enough to protect these guys when they need it, and there is certainly not going to be any pressure, so really I see it as a win-win situation,” he said.
Despite the strong emphasis on the youth movement, the squad can lay claim to four Olympic Silver Medallists and 13 players who represented Australia at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March.
One Victorian debutant, Cheltenham’s Adam Blackley is looking forward to wearing the green and gold at a senior level for the first time.
“I can’t wait. It’s my first time on an Australian senior team. It’s always been a goal of mine.”
The tournament will also give Blackley chance to impress the coach Deeble and the other Olympic selectors.
“Hopefully if you put on a good show anything can happen. I’d love to be there in Beijing.” He said.
Australian will take on teams from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Holland, Cuba, Italy and the Philippines in the invitational event, that consists of a 7 game preliminary round followed by a two-game final series format.
The team will leave for Taiwan on November 2nd for a week long training camp and preparation prior to the tournament which runs from November 9-19.
