Velani to combine U19 tour with studies

By Paul Hiscock

Kishen Velani, one of the most exciting young talents at Essex, is eagerly looking forward to a trip to South Africa having been selected just before Christmas for the England Under-19’s tour.

The team will play two four-day 'Tests' and five one-day internationals, with the opening Test at Newlands, Cape Town, starting on January 27 and the second scheduled for Boland Park, Paarl, from February 3. The one-day leg of the tour starts on February 13, with the final match eight days later.

All-rounder Velani is the latest player to emerge from the renowned and successful Essex Cricket academy system -– surely one of the best in the country -– and he has also been part of the England Development Programme.

Still a student at Brentwood School, Velani will not only have cricket on his agenda. He will fly out to South Africa 24 hours after the main party because he has to take a physics exam on the day the rest of the party leave England, and he is also due to take a further exam while on tour.

The right-hand batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler was part of the England Under-19 World Cup squad in August, playing in two fifth-place play-off matches, but he is still eligible for the next ICC Under-19 World Cup due to be staged in February 2014 and, with his increasing experience of international cricket, he could prove to be a key member of that England squad.

Meanwhile, three senior Essex players are set to feature in the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 competition which starts in mid-January.

Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate will both play for Chittagong Kings, having attracted bids of $125,000 and $100,000 respectively, while Owais Shah will represent Dhaka Gladiators who are paying $75,000 for his services. A fourth member of the Essex squad, the newcomer and former Lancashire paceman Sajid Mahmood, went unsold.


Date: 03/01/2013 07:10:00 by Paul Hiscock
In: Today | Essex |