Canterbury's success in winning the national Under-19 tournament which finished in Auckland today, was borne out with its players winning four spots in the New Zealand team to play in the ICC Under-19 World Cup tournament here later this month.

Canterbury won the national tournament with 17 points, Central Districts 15, Wellington 14, Otago 11, Northern Districts six and Auckland five.

Close runners-up Central Districts were also rewarded for their excellent performance in having five of their players selected in the tournament team.

The New Zealand Under-19 team is: Ross Taylor (captain, Central Districts), Simon Allen (Wellington), Michael Bates (Auckland), Peter Borren (Canterbury), Neil Broom (Canterbury), Leighton Burtt (Canterbury), Brook Hatwell (Northern Districts), Stephen Murdoch (Wellington), Rob Nicol (Auckland), Iain Robertson (Canterbury), Jessie Ryder (Central Districts), Ian Sandbrook (Central Districts), Jordan Sheed (Otago), Richard Sherlock (Central Districts).

The world tournament will start with an opening ceremony in Christchurch on January 14. Teams will then have warm-up games before the tournament's opening game between New Zealand and Sri Lanka on Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln on January 19.

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