Metrobank Cup

Tomorrow sees the final of the county 50 over a side Metrobank cup, played at Trent Bridge between Hampshire and Leicestershire.  I don't think Hampshire's John Turner will be fit in time to play - but he's an interesting cricketer.  Picked for the T20 international series against New Zealand he is a classic new era ECB selection, born outside the UK (South Africa) and selected for having the right attributes of pace and bounce, rather than consistent performances, not his fault -  he's only played a total of thirty games in top level cricket.

But he's also an example of how the county game can help to identify talent.  Hampshire gave him his initial chance in the 2021 season when call ups to The Hundred had left them short of bowlers for the 50 over competition.  It would be unlikely a player would get this chance if the county game was boiled down to 8 (or 10) provincial sides.

So to celebrate tomorrow's final I've come up with a team of the tournament to date, but with the proviso of only including players under 25.  And I'm also giving you two Prices for the price of two.  Mostly done on averages although I was impressed by the keeping of Macintosh of Durham (and Scotland).

Will any of the players replicate John Turner's rapid rise?  Ignoring Privthi Shaw, who has already played for India, the two I'll look out for are the two 19 year olds, I know Ben Kellaway impressed Warwickshire supporters who saw him against the Bears and Josh Hull of Leicestershire is 6 foot 7 inches tall and bowls left arm, so I'm be pretty sure he's on a list at the ECB.

Name	Age	County	Runs	Batting AV.	Strike Rate	Wickets	Bowling AV	RPO
					(per over)
P. Shaw	23	Northants	429	143	9.2
O. Price	22	Gloucester	575	82.14	5.5	3	47.3	5.9
F. Middleton	21	Hampshire	465	51.66	5.5
S Budinger	24	Leicestershire	391	43.44	8
J Evison	21	Kent	166	55	6.7	0	NA	7.5
B Kellaway	19	Glamorgan	195	32.5	7.6	13	22.9	5.4
T Mackintosh	20	Durham	92	46	5.3
G. Hill	22	Yorkshire	66	13.2	6.5	5	28.4	4.3
T.Price	23	Gloucester	108	21.6	5.6	13	22	4.5
H. Qadri	22	Kent	34	5.7	5.3	14	21.6	5.2
J. Hull	19	Leicestershire	3	NA	4.5	15	22.5	5.5