Locals preparing for Lincoln

Summer running: Akash Gill, front, and Connor O'Leary putting in some hard yards in preparation for the national under 17 tournament in Canterbury next month.

It has been the big ask of the last few seasons, having Whanganui's sole Central Districts Under 17 representative prepare for national tournament by himself, so Connor O'Leary is pleased he has someone to chase up the St John's hill this summer.

O'Leary and Canadian Under 19 representative Akash Gill, both 17, have been chosen in coach Dilan Raj's wider squad of 16 for this year's national under 17 tournament at Lincoln University in Canterbury, January 13-23.

Last summer, pace bowler O'Leary went as the sole Whanganui player in the squad, following a similar path to Brett Cameron, whom Raj selected in 2013 and 2014, captaining the side his second year.

However, with the arrival of allrounder Gill on overseas excursion for the summer, Raj has been able to work the teenagers together, to push each other in their training regime over the festive season.

This especially is a big help to O'Leary, who after overcoming a injury to his right knee is currently working through a niggle in his left.

O'Leary took some key wickets down at Lincoln University for CD last summer as they finished second equal in the tournament.

Raj will work his 16 players from around the large CD catchment down to a final squad of 13.

He is confident the side will do well as three of them being senior Hawke Cup cricket regulars in Harry MacDonald (Marlborough), Tom Zohrab (Nelson) and Gill (Wanganui).

"He's loving his time here," Raj said of the Canadian, who has been working on bowling eight overs a day at specific spots on the training pitch to "build his load up".

Raj said that Lincoln, in particular the main Bert Sutcliffe Oval, will have hosted five tournaments by the time the Under 17 nationals get underway, including the women's Under 19 nationals as well as the men's Provincial A competition in early January.

This will guarantee a dry and flat track pitch.

"We've picked three spinners and there's five other fast bowlers fighting for two spots."

O'Leary continues to progress in the ranks of a strong Wanganui Collegiate side, having also had Hawke Cup experience for Wanganui, as did his school captain Angus Dinwiddie this season.

"They were all thrown in the deep end quite young. They've been playing First XI for three years," said Raj.

Central Districts U17 will play a pair of two-game games and then four 50 over matches.

They play Wellington twice and the other four associations once each, with at least two games being on the No1 ground.

"That's mean, you get to see your name up on the scoreboard," said O'Leary.

"It's good to get down there a second time. I'm a bit stronger.

"It's nice having a training partner as well."

Gill said when he came to Whanganui he was told by his St Johns Tech skipper Dominic Lock there would be a lot of opportunity to play different forms of cricket.

"It's a really good test, just playing [two-day] long format in these type of conditions.

"I've played that, but we don't have the same skill set for that back home."

O'Leary said there is more intensity for this year's tournament, due to knowing the standard required this time plus having to compete for final spots.