Ferguson and Henriques called to Centre of Excellence

Callum Ferguson, the Australia one-day international, will be part of the Centre of Excellence intake along with Moises Henriques as the national selectors try to refine their young talent. Ferguson, the 24-year-old batsman, made his debut in the Chappell-Hadlee Series and will attend as a part-time scholar while Henriques, who played his first Twenty20 International on Sunday, is in the 16-man full-time squad.

Henriques will return to the Brisbane facility for the second season in a row alongside his New South Wales team-mate Usman Khawaja and Victoria's Jon Holland. Rob Quiney, Australia's 12th man on Sunday, is also in the programme while Alister McDermott and Mitchell Marsh give the outfit a family feel.

McDermott, 17, is the son of Craig McDermott while Marsh's father Geoff Marsh was a former national coach and opening batsman. His brother Shaun Marsh was in the limited-overs side until pulling a hamstring.

"This group of players has been chosen with an eye to the short-term needs of Australian cricket, but with an emphasis on the development of a group of very talented youngsters to meet the long-term needs," Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said. "The intake is a very important step in the development of our talented young players as they seek to further develop their physical and mental cricket skills and strive to achieve international honours."

It will be the first class to be held by Greg Chappell, the head coach who started his role last year. "This is an exciting time for cricket in Australia as we continue to rebuild an Australian team that has dominated world cricket for the past 10 years," Chappell said. "It's a great time to be a young cricketer with ambition, dedication and talent."

The full-time players will take part in a 16-week course that includes the Emerging Players Tournament involving India, New Zealand and South Africa outfits, and an international tour. The age of the group continues to come down, with the average being 20.6 compared with 22 two years ago.

Full-time scholars Burt Cockley (NSW), Josh Hazlewood (NSW), Moises Henriques (NSW), Usman Khawaja (NSW), Steven Smith (NSW), Mitchell Starc (NSW), Alister McDermott (Qld), Nathan Reardon (Qld), Peter George (SA), Tom Cooper (SA), Tom Triffitt, James Faulkner, Jon Holland (Vic), Rob Quiney (Vic), Josh Mangan (WA), Mitchell Marsh (WA).
Part-time Luke Doran (NSW), Peter Forrest (NSW), Adam Zampa (NSW), Callum Ferguson (SA), Kane Richardson (SA), Chris Duval (Tas).
Development Jason Floros (ACT), Sean Abbott (NSW), Alex Carey (SA), Jackson Coleman (Vic).