Hawke's Bay's cricketer Cate Pedersen has been named in the inaugural New Zealand Under 19 Women's team.
The right-handed top order batter and bowler, from Napier, will head to Christchurch with the team to play three 40-over games against a New Zealand Policewoman's XI in Christchurch on February 15, 16and 17.
The police side is likely to include White Ferns Erin Bermingham and Katie Perkins.
The U19 side also has 50-over matches scheduled on March 29, 30 and April 1 against a New Zealand Women's Provincial XI in Hamilton.
Pedersen, the only Central Districts player in the NZ team, has come through the Hawke's Bay and CD age group representative system after showing talent with the bat and ball as a teenager.
NZ Cricket's Head of Women's High Performance, Ant Sharp said the matches are an important part of NZC's player development, given the ICC Under-19 Women's World Cup has been postponed due to Covid 19.
"For me, the result of these matches isn't the most important thing. We want to develop their skills and start to create future White Ferns," Carswell said.
"It was tough to narrow down the squad to just 18 names with the level of talent we see coming through in the female game," she added.
