Young Kiwi cricketer grateful after international call up

A young Auckland cricketer is heading for the international stage after an impressive summer for the Auckland Aces has seen him selected for the New Zealand A team.

“I didn’t expect it, but I was very grateful when I got the call,” Aditya Ashok told TWN.

The 20-year-old says he was playing a Plunket Shield match for the Aces in Alexandra when he found out.

“My head coach pulled me aside and I thought I was in trouble at first. Then he shook my hand and congratulated me on being selected.”

Ashok says he will use the opportunity to progress towards his end goal of playing international cricket for New Zealand.

During his debut first class game, Ashok picked up five wickets against the Central Stags and went on to replicate that feat against the Wellington Firebirds.

“I’m always silently confident about myself, with that confidence coming from being able to prepare as well as I can.”

The team is set to play two four-day games against a talented Australia A side at Lincoln University starting onApril 1.

Ashok says he has changed his preparation slightly for this set of matches because they will be using a different type of ball to help the Australian side prepare for matches against England.

The Duke ball is used in England and the leg-spinner says he must adapt to the new ball, which stays harder for longer and its  stitching is more pronounced.

Ashok prefers the red-ball format of the game the most because it can be a clearer indicator of who is skilled at the game due to the longevity of the matches.

“Especially as a leg spinner, it’s not really status quo for [leg spinner]) to do well in red-ball cricket, aside from the greatest ever Shane Warne.”

Ashok and the team will travel to Christchurch today to prepare for the two matches against Australia.