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The Australian Baseball Federation (ABF) announced the 2006 IBAF Intercontinental Cup team today, with the squad headed for Taiwan sporting a number of fresh faces as they move toward the Beijing Olympics in 2008
The 25-man roster for the eight-nation invitational tournament boasts seven debutants among a playing group with an average age of just 23

Australian team Head Coach Jon Deeble said that while the timing of the event meant many of his “front-line” players were unavailable, it also represented a fantastic opportunity to “blood” new talent in the lead up to Beijing
“For many of the guys this will be our first real chance to look at them in international competition” he said
“Two years down the track we are going to need a lot of these guys on our Olympic roster and we need to take the appropriate steps now to ensure they are ready"

Deeble certainly has no concerns that his young squad will be overawed by more credentialed teams from countries like Cuba, Korea and Japan
“We have done the same thing in the past with players like (Chris) Snelling, (Ryan) Roland-Smith and (Richard) Thompson and had fantastic results” Deeble said
“Ultimately it will be up to the individuals to step up and say 'I’m ready to play at this level, I’m ready to represent my country’
We know enough to protect these guys when they need it, and there is certainly not going to be any pressure, so really I see it as a win-win situation” he said

Despite the strong emphasis on the youth movement, the squad can lay claim to four Olympic Silver Medallists and 13 players who represented Australia at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March

Gavin Fingleson who has long been an integral part of the Australian squad said that despite a number of fresh faces he had no doubts about the make up of the team
“This is just a part of the culture that we began to put in place back in 2001…there has been a tradition of new players coming in to the squad and adjusting quickly” he said
“That’s the beauty of the teams’ current philosophy – everyone’s on the same page
You know exactly what is expected of you, and you just go out, play hard and have fun…there are no egos” he said
When asked about being one of only four players over 30 years’-of-age in the squad, Fingleson was philosophical
“Calling me a ‘veteran’ is scary
“But that’s what’s great about our current culture…it’s the young guys putting pressure on the older guys to perform…it drives you to succeed” he said

Australian will take on teams from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Holland, Cuba, Italy and the Philippines in the invitational event, that consists of a 7 game preliminary round followed by a two-game final series format
The team will leave for Taiwan on November 2nd for a week long training camp and preparation prior to the tournament which runs from November 9-19