Young Harvey a talent ahead of his time

The nephew of former Australian allrounder Ian Harvey is leading the pack of Australia's brightest young talents, according to the coach tasked with overseeing their development.

Dimitri Mascarenhas spent two weeks coaching the Cricket Australia XI at the Under-17 National Championships in Queensland earlier this month, imparting his considerable knowledge on some of the country's most promising young guns.

The Perth-raised, ex-England limited-overs representative - and former New Zealand bowling coach - was impressed by a number of the CA XI's standout performers, including dynamic allrounder Ollie Davies, off-spinner Tyson Lee and quick bowler Connor Sully.

But it was skipper Mackenzie Harvey, who averaged 57 with the bat and who will now play at the Under-19 National Championships later this year as a 16 year old, who earned the highest praise from a man with almost 20 years of first-class experience.

"He’s a bit ahead of his time, the way he thinks about the game and especially the way he bats and fields," Mascarenhas said of Harvey.

"He’s a real talent. If he keeps going the way he’s going, there’s bigger and better things on the horizon for him for sure."

Mascarenhas said coaching the under-age team was a different but enjoyable experience, while he relished the opportunity to work with Australia’s best Under 16s.

"It was different, thats for sure.

"We only got together two days before the tournament started, but the kids are pretty resilient and adaptable.

"They did a wonderful job, I was proud of the way they performed and there’s some really talented young kids in that group."

Mascarenhas’ charges won two games - and tied another - competing against the age group above them.

It was the 38-year-old’s first coaching experience within the Cricket Australia Pathways system - after representing Western Australia’s underage sides as a junior cricketer.

"I absolutely loved it," Mascarenhas said of his experience.

"They’re a talented bunch of boys, a great bunch of boys. For them to get together so quickly and gel… we performed pretty well, we had some last over games, some last ball games as well. If the rub of the green had gone our way, who knows where we could have gone.

"I had a great time, the boys have had a really good time as well which was the main thing."

The next challenge for the Australian under-16s side will be a tour of Dubai from January 7 to 19, where the side will play a one-day series against Pakistan’s under-16s.