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Pope primed to put SL in a spin

Young leggie can't wait for his shot in Australia's Under-19s team in upcoming series in Tasmania

South Australian leg-spinner Lloyd Pope has taken all before him in the Australian under-age championships.

Now he gets his crack at the big time.

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Pope, 17, will be looking to weave a web around Sri Lanka’s best under-19s talent when he represents Australia Under 19s in a six-match series in Hobart, starting with a three-day game from Saturday.

“It’s unreal,” Pope said. “As a kid you’ve always dreamed of putting on the Baggy Green and playing for your country.

“To do this at the under-19s with a couple of my mates is a pretty awesome experience really.”

U19s spinner Pope ready for Sri Lanka challenge

No junior cricketer has achieved what Pope achieved this summer.

First, he was the leading wicket-taker at the Under 17s National Championships, collecting 18 wickets at an average of 14.6 for South Australia.

Then he led the field at the Under 19s National Championships with 21 wickets at an average of 16.3 for the Cricket Australia XI, including a bag of five against his home state.

“It’s been nice,” he said. "The things that I’ve been working on through the pre-season have come to pay off a little bit, so it’s nice to get some rewards.”

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The humble teenager has had the chance to work alongside the likes of Australian legend Shane Warne and Brisbane Heat and West Indies star Samuel Badree, and he’s learned “heaps”.

“Just to pick their brains (around) tactical sort of things is awesome," he said. "They’ve got such a wealth of knowledge and to find out the things they’ve been going through throughout their careers and their variations and their mindset has just been awesome."

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Now, Pope has the likes of Matthew Elliott, Troy Cooley and John Davison to call on for advice in Hobart, as he prepares to tackle Sri Lanka, who have traditionally been a nation that produces strong players of spin.

It’s a challenge he’s more than looking forward to.

“It’s definitely going to be a challenge, but it’s always going to be a challenge with international players,” he said.

“That’s just the game of cricket.”

All six matches of the Australia-Sri Lanka U19 series will be live streamed on cricket.com.au.