Rivals' white line fever likely to set up grand finish again

Twelve months ago, they produced a Final more than worthy of its billing. And now they're back to do it all again. Having established themselves as the two dominant teams of the 2000-01 national under-19 championship in Hobart, it's Victoria and Queensland who will do battle in the tournament's ultimate match - at the Bellerive Oval over each of the next two days.

The sides have enjoyed contrasting passages to the competition's ultimate match - the undefeated Victorians overpowering almost everything in their path and the Queenslanders enduring a number of close matches along the way. It has been quite a climb back for the players from the Sunshine State, in fact, after they were humbled by the Victorians on the tournament's opening day, crashing to a first innings score of just 74. It was not only a disappointing way to begin but also proved to be the lowest total produced by any of the eight sides to have participated in the two weeks of sun-drenched competition among the nation's finest young players.

"It's definitely nice to play Queensland," says Victorian captain, Tim Welsford, on the eve of the Final. But not necessarily because of the psychological edge that his team is likely to assume after that encounter.

He well remembers the high-class battle between the sides almost exactly twelve months ago that resulted in the two states sharing the 1999-2000 title.

"We had them nine wickets down, but couldn't quite clinch it. It was a great game," enthuses Welsford, who played no small part in the match himself. With a handy 21 in a total of 311 and then a return of 4/46 that helped reduce his opponents to 9/253 before final pair Simon Larrescy and David Pamenter hung on through a tension-laced final twenty minutes, it's not hard to imagine that he will be setting his sights on big things again.

While Victoria's unbeaten record over the last two years of this competition deservedly makes it a raging hot favourite, there's no such thing as a certainty in cricket. This is a match with many appealing facets to it, and which could clearly end any of three ways.

One of its more tantalising aspects is the centrality of the two captains to the likely outcome of the match. Welsford and his Queensland counterpart, Nathan Hauritz, are two of Australia's finest teenage players; almost certainly destined, each of them, for long and fulfilling futures in the sport.

A lionhearted opening bowler, classy middle order batsman and proven big occasion player, the former is in his third national under-19 tournament and has looked every bit as sophisticated in this year's event as he has in the previous two. It is no accident that it was in the semi-final against South Australia that he should have been able to return easily the best individual bowling figures of the tournament - with his brilliant haul of 6/73.

For his part, fellow Australian underage player Hauritz has assumed a key hand in the fortunes of a Queensland team which has relied heavily on his ability to shore up the batting order. A capacity to wear his opponents down over long periods with his beautifully controlled off spin has also been of crucial importance in each of the team's four matches to date.

"'Horro' and I are friends, we get on well ... but we're like anyone else. White line fever definitely takes over when we get out there on the ground, and it will again (in the Final)," attests Welsford.

History not only proves the success of this carnival in sowing the seeds for future international careers, it also underlines that underage competitions of this ilk are the breeding grounds of great rivalries, great friendships, great respect. As many as 108 international players have already beaten the path to higher honours via this championship; doubtless, some of the combatants in this match will help swell the number in future years. Whom precisely they will be and when exactly they will emerge is, of course, difficult to predict. More certain, though, is that a huge step in their individual and collective development will be taken over the next two days.