Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate / Sport

Youth team call up for Watson to play Aussies

Northern Advocate
8 Mar, 2013 05:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Northland cricketer Kurtley Watson is pretty modest considering he has just made the New Zealand under-19 team.

The Whangarei Boys' High School teenager says he has not had a great season. Obviously the New Zealand selectors disagree.

"I've had an all right season," said Watson, who looks to be following in the footsteps of Black Cap Tim Southee.

"I haven't played too well for the Northland men's team but I have gone pretty well in the age group season. But, hopefully, better next season."

The 18-year-old recalled that when he received the phone call from national selector Kim Littlejohn he was shocked at the time.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I was talking with my old man, and we had a couple of my uncles over, my cellphone started ringing, picked it up and Kim Littlejohn said 'hello' and said he had good news.

"I was stoked, a little bit overwhelmed too. I didn't really have any idea when I got the phone call [that he was going to be selected]."

Watson and his New Zealand teammates will play one three-day match, starting on March 30, and three one-day matches against the Australian under-19 team.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

His teammates will not be all new to the teenager. He said he had played with three of them and played against the rest.

But Watson maintains they all get on well off the field and he looks forward to sharing the under-19 experience with them.

Watson, who also plays for Maungakaramea, has been nursing an injury sustained during Northland's final two-day match against Waikato Valley last weekend, but should be fine come game day.

While Watson may think he had not performed so well for Northland, his Northland coach says otherwise. Stephen Cunis praised Watson's consistent performance over the season.

Although Watson has not been the most prolific wicket-taker in two-day cricket, Cunis said the pressure Watson built led to some of his side's success this season.

"Kurtley was head and shoulders above the rest in his attitude and maturity," said Cunis.

"In terms of his skills on and off the field, he has a lot of skills and potential for the future.

"He's a very humble and modest kid.

"In terms of Northland, he's not there to brass people out. His job is to bowl dot balls and bowl maidens, basically restrict the scores.

"He has high standards and is quite hard on himself. He has had a very solid season in terms of doing his job in the Northland team."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Cunis said Watson was currently seen predominantly as a bowler but saw his future more as an all-rounder due to his batting abilities.

For Northland in one-day matches this season, Watson has played all of the matches, averaging 27 runs per wicket at an economy rate of 3.4.

Littlejohn said the players involved in the series were some of the future stars of New Zealand cricket and had shown considerable promise on their way to selection.

"It's a great opportunity for them to get a taste of the game at a higher level and is another step forward in their on-going development," Littlejohn said.

NZ under-19 squad

Tim Seifert, Jeremy Benton, Nick Blundell, Henry Collier, Leo Carter, Cameron Gibbons, Shawn Hicks, Jack Hunter, Kyle Jamieson, Harley Jenkins, Ken McClure, Arana Noema-Barnett, Kurtley Watson, Dane Watson, Ryan Watson, Rakitha Weerasundara

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Sport

Māori All Blacks beaten by Scotland

Northern Advocate

'Incredible': Northland retirees become world champs in new sport

Sport

NZ shearers prepare for Scotland's toughest sheep


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Māori All Blacks beaten by Scotland
Sport

Māori All Blacks beaten by Scotland

Visitors bounce back after a flying start from the hosts in Whangārei.

05 Jul 05:39 AM
'Incredible': Northland retirees become world champs in new sport
Northern Advocate

'Incredible': Northland retirees become world champs in new sport

27 Jun 07:00 PM
NZ shearers prepare for Scotland's toughest sheep
Sport

NZ shearers prepare for Scotland's toughest sheep

25 Jun 10:36 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP