Fringe players dress to impress

New Zealand A's players will have more than a month of opportunities to push for places in the senior team at the Twenty20 World Championships when they embark on a training and playing tour of Australia. The squad departs on Monday for a three-week camp in Darwin before the Emerging Players Tournament in Queensland starting on July 16.

New Zealand are one of four sides taking part in the contest - the Australian Centre of Excellence, the Karnataka Association XI and the South African Emerging Players are the others - and they will play seven one-day games and two Twenty20 matches. "It will provide an opportunity for some players to prepare for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa in September," Ric Charlesworth, the New Zealand Cricket high performance manager, said. "But more importantly, it offers us the opportunity to view a new group of players on the periphery of the national team."

The 15-man squad, which will be led by James Marshall, will be joined at the camp by five under-19 players who are preparing for the Youth World Cup in Kuala Lumpur in February. Dave Nosworthy, the State Canterbury coach, will look after the team and be assisted by Mike Hesson and the bowling coach Vaughn Johnson.

New Zealand A James Marshall (capt), Andre Adams, Hamish Bennett, Neil Broom, Grant Elliott, Gareth Hopkins (wk), Jamie How, Nathan McCullum, James McMillan, Warren McSkimming, Rob Nicol, Iain O'Brien, Michael Papps, Aaron Redmond, Bradley Scott. Under 19 players Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Greg Morgan, Tim Southee, Kane Williamson.

New Zealand A itinerary
July 1 v Northern Territory Strike, Darwin
July 16 v South Africa Emerging Players, Caloundra, Twenty20
July 17 v Karnataka Association XI, Caloundra, Twenty20
July 19 v Australian Centre of Excellence, Caloundra
July 20 v South Africa Emerging Players, Maroochydore
July 22 v Karnataka Association XI, Maroochydore
July 24 v Australian Centre of Excellence, Brisbane
July 25 v South Africa Emerging Players, Brisbane
July 27 v Karnataka Association XI, TBC
July 28 final and third-place play-off