While finding a winner of the U18 Secondary Schools development Tournament in Whanganui is important, it is not the main aim of the competition.
The tournament that opened the popular annual Whanganui Festival of Cricket was more about naming a central team to compete at a North Island U18 tournament against Auckland, Northern Districts and Wellington in the capital on January 16-20.
Former Wanganui senior women's captain Esther Lanser and coaches of the four teams competing at the Whanganui U18 tournament are responsible for selecting the central team for the upcoming challenge in the capital. Team competing in Whanganui include
Taranaki, Wairarapa, hawkes Bay and Manawatu.
The team selected for central to go to Wellington will go some way to addressing an age group anomaly.
"There has been a missing step in the ladder between U15 and U21 which both have national tournaments," Lanser said yesterday.