Orange's Phoebe Litchfield headlines a group of the nation's most-exciting young talent set to do battle in three exhibition games next month, fixtures that will show off the growth of women's cricket in Australia and the glittering future ahead too.
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Made up of the Women's Big Bash League's brightest under-19 prospects, Litchfield has been named alongside Dubbo's Emma Hughes in the Perry XI to take on their Lanning XI counterparts at Canberra in late November.
After her record-breaking, headline-grabbing start to her WBBL career with the Sydney Thunder, the tri-series appears another chance for Litchfield to retain her spot in the Australian under-19 side for next year's tour of South Africa.
Considering she made that side as a 15-year-old and has only improved since, that spot doesn't appear under any serious threat anyway, not when she's been on the national selectors' radars for so long.
Although, chief selector Shawn Flegler told AAP, nothing is ever guaranteed and she will still need to earn the right to once again don the green and gold.
"You look at her now and think she is going to be an unbelievable player, but does she have the same work ethic as Meg (Lanning)?" Flegler said.
"Can she tour and perform under pressure? All of it is an unknown until 10 years down the track.
"But ... she's got some pretty good attributes ... I think she is going to be an extremely good player."
Hughes is in the Sydney Sixers squad this summer and, along with Litchfield, will link with former hard-hitting Bathurst bat Jono Dean, who has been named assistant coach of the Perry XI, who's also the ACT Meteors assistant and high performance coach.
"You've seen with the women's game of late, it's growth is exponential," Dean said.
"There is a definite pathway there now for young women, girls coming through from grassroots and young women coming through if they want to play cricket."
The first two games of the under-19 tri-series are on November 23 at 9.30am and 2pm, with the third the following day from 9am. All three will be played at Canberra's Phillip Oval.
- PERRY XI: 1. Zoe Britcliffe (Scorchers), Lucy Cripps (Stars), Stella Campbell (Sixers), Hannah Darlington (Thunder), Molly Godsell (Thunder), Ella Hayward (Renegades), Emma Hughes (Sixers), Phoebe Litchfield (Thunder), Ella Marsh (Hurricanes), Lilly Mills (Heat), Courtney Sippel (Heat), Amy Smith (Hurricanes)
- LANNING XI: Isabelle Afaras (Sixers), Jade Allen (Thunder), Darcie Brown (Strikers), Emma de Broughe (Strikers), Tess Flintoff (Stars), Georgia Gall (Renegades), Sianna Ginger (Heat), Molly Healy (Scorchers), Ruth Johnston (Heat), Charli Knott (Heat), Caitlin Mair (Heat), Kate Peterson (Thunder).
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