Australian cricket has received a boost in a tough period with the news teenage dual-code star Will Sutherland has chosen the summer sport over football.

Fairfax Media understands Sutherland - the 17-year-old son of Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland - told Vic Metro football staff on Sunday morning that cricket had won the fiercely-contested battle for his services.

Wanted man: Will Sutherland has chosen cricket. Credit:Cricket Australia/Getty Images

There had been a growing confidence in football circles that Sutherland, a talented tall forward, would choose to play football after starring with Scotch College, and then impressing for Vic Metro at the recent national championships, even though he hadn't played for Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup. Sutherland had been touted as a likely first-round draft pick this year had he selected football.

But Sutherland, an all-rounder, who has captained Australia at under-19 level, looks likely to agree to a rookie contract with the Victorian Bushrangers after making his decision.

Sutherland said it had been a difficult call to make.

"This was an incredibly tough decision. Most of the advice that I received was to just follow my passion. That sounds easy enough, but not so much when my passion is for both sports. I really loved my experience in the recent under 18 national championships when representing Vic Metro and this only made the decision more difficult," Sutherland said. "When it came down to it, my love and passion for the game of cricket just won out. I've thoroughly enjoyed representing my state and country in the under-age ranks and the prospect of potentially being able to continue this at the senior level is very much my dream. "I'm excited and relieved about this decision and will now look to focus on completing my year 12 studies."Cricket Victoria's general manager of cricket Shaun Graf said he was glad Sutherland had chosen his sport."We're pleased Will has made this decision and we look forward to supporting him through the rest of his year 12 studies and his cricket pathway."The full Cricket Victoria squad lists for the upcoming 2017-18 season will be announced following the resolution of an MOU."

Sutherland's choice had been made more difficult given his mother is a director at AFL Victoria. The news is a welcome boost for crisis-stricken cricket, currently mired in an industrial dispute as players fight to retain a fixed share of revenue in their pay deal with CA. Players are currently striking, having barred not to play until an MOU is resolved. While talks had been progressing well during the week, it's believed the situation has stalled somewhat over the weekend.