Cricket Australia XI to participate in Matador Cup

A Cricket Australia (CA) XI team will be part of the upcoming Matador Cup for the second consecutive season.
The final format and draw for the 2016-17 50-over tournament has yet to be released but Pat Howard, CA executive general manager, confirmed on Monday (July 18) that the CA XI would again be the seventh team to play against defending champions New South Wales, finalists South Australia, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania.

The CA XI's introduction in the domestic limited overs competition last year was the most high profile of a raft of initiatives emanating from the Australian Cricket Pathway, including the introduction of CA XI squads into male and female National Youth championships ranging from Under-15 through to Under-19s.
CA XI won just once from six matches to finish last on the ladder in their debut season but Howard believed the team showed encouraging signs.
"We said initially that we were prepared to back this for a two-year trial and we are sticking to that for the second season as we felt that there were significantly positive results for Australian cricket,'' Howard said. "With the postponement of the Test tour (to Bangladesh) last October, the CA XI came up against very strong state sides, which was wonderful for the competition but was also a tough introduction for the young group. It is important we continue to review the concept again this season, as there were many positives."
Greg Chappell, national talent manager, said the squad would be chosen in conjunction with state talent managers and guided by the national selection panel. "With Australia A and the National Performance Squad playing games during the winter, I think we will gauge quite quickly what sort of team we will assemble," he said. "The on-field results we obtained last season weren't measured in the wins and losses column, but in the elevation of 10 players from the originally selected squad who had played either BBL or first class cricket by the end of the season.
"And it is also worth highlighting that Sam Heazlett and Mitch Swepson, who were members of the initial CA XI squad, have recently been selected for Australia A,'' Chappell added.