The 2025 U19 Male National Championships in Perth delivered a solid return for NSW, with Metro and Country squads finishing strong - claiming third and fifth place respectively.
NSW Finish Strong at U19 Male Nationals
NSW Metro powered through the regular rounds unbeaten before meeting Victoria Metro in the semi-final. A five-wicket loss knocked them out of the title race, but the side responded with purpose in the third-place playoff – defeating Victoria Country by 96 runs.
Metro’s campaign was headlined by the form of Nitesh Samuel, whose outstanding consistency earned him the Brian Taber Medal for Player of the Tournament. The Parramatta District Cricket Club batter finished as the competition’s leading run-scorer with 364 runs at 91.
Meanwhile, NSW Country posted a mixed group stage of two wins and two losses. In the first round of finals, they overcame Northern Territory by 42 runs - buoyed by a commanding 74 from Shaun Smith, an unbeaten 45 from Hunter Hall, and a four-wicket haul from Harry Campbell. That set up the fifth-place playoff against Queensland, where Country sealed a 25-run victory and closed out the championship on a high note.
NSW had four players named in the Team of the Tournament:
- Nitesh Samuel – NSW Metro | Highest run scorer
- Shaun Smith – NSW Country | Third highest run scorer
- Alex Lee-Young (WK) – NSW Metro | Leading fielder
- Naden Cooray – NSW Metro | Fifth highest wicket taker
NSW statistic leaders | 2025 U19 Male National Championships:
NSW Metropolitan leading run-scorers
- Nitesh Samual – 364 runs | 91 average | 129 top score
- Alex Lee-Young – 197 runs | 32.83 average | 90 top score
- Yash Deshmukh – 110 runs | 22 average | 66 top score
NSW Metropolitan leading wicket-takers
- Naden Cooray – 11 wickets | 17.82 average | 3-28 best bowling
- John James – 9 wickets | 13.56 average | 4-14 best bowling
- Sumair Sira – 7 wickets | 16.71 average | 4-37 best bowling
NSW Country leading run-scorers
- Shaun Smith – 299 runs | 49.83 average | 74 top score
- Jaylen Johnston – 145 runs | 29 average | 40 top score
- Rory McLean – 139 runs | 23.17 average | 55 top score
NSW Country leading wicket-takers
- Harry Campbell - 10 wickets | 10.4 average | 4-26 best bowling
- Darcy White – 10 wickets | 17.1 average | 3-22 best bowling
- Harry Kershler – 7 wickets | 26.29 wickets | 2-40 best bowling
Cricket NSW would like to congratulate and thank our high-performance staff for their preparation and dedication to helping our pathways players be at their best for the National Championships.
See all the results from the tournament: HERE