Brown signs off at U19 level in impressive fashion
Nick Brown was not only one of Otago’s best throughout the NZ U19 cricket tournament, but the Southlander was the third-highest run scorer from all six teams.
Nick Brown signed off on his time playing at the national U19 tournament level in fine style and he now looms as a key figure for Southland’s 2025 Hawke Cup cricket hopes.
The Southland wicketkeeper-batsman last week lined up for Otago in his third and final New Zealand U19 tournament.
He was not only one of Otago’s best throughout the tournament, but Brown was the third-highest run scorer out of all of the six teams.
Brown scored 241 runs in five innings at an average of 60.25 - while also taking on the keeping duties for much of the tournament.
His 241 runs included an unbeaten 102 in a win over Central Districts which featured a 202-third wicket stand alongside 16-year-old Hugo Bogue who scored 118.
“It was pretty cool. It is not something I’ve experienced before in cricket, and I don’t think Hugo had either,” Brown said about the 202-run partnership.
“We both knew what we had to do, and we were just trying to get us there and get the team over the line. It was pretty cool to both get hundreds in the process.
“[Hugo] has still got two more years in the Under-19s. He’s a very good player.”
To highlight just that Bouge has backed up from the U19 tournament to play in the national U17 tournament and scored 112 from 76 balls in Otago’s opening outing against Central Districts.
Brown had been threatening the three-figure mark for a while, including a knock of 84 for Southland in a Hawke Cup fixture against South Canterbury in the lead-up to the U19 tournament.
The century at the national U19 tournament will be a good confidence booster for Brown, whose father Keith was an international rugby referee.
“I’ve had a few 80s without getting to the hundred in the last little bit, so it was nice to get there,” he told The Tribune.
The former Southland Boys’ High School was named as a non-travelling reserve for the New Zealand U19 World Cup team last year and would have put himself in contention for selection this year.
However, the men’s U19 World Cup will next be played in 2026.
Brown - who is studying law and commerce at Otago University - will this Saturday return to club cricket in Dunedin with Carisbrook-Dunedin-Kaikorai.
That’s before he joins Southland for three fixtures in February as they push for a Hawke Cup challenge.