The Hunter Valley Cricket Council’s junior representative program kicked off on Sunday with the first round of the NSW Youth Championships.
The 13s, 14s and 15s Hunter Valley sides took on Lake Macquarie and will play the next round against Central Coast in December ahead of the State carnivals for each age group in January.
One of the organisers of the program, Tammie Howard, said it is a hectic time for the young players who are already committed to their club cricket, local representative cricket, Hunter Valley cricket and some are also playing in senior competitions.
“It is a lot of cricket but we are in a position now where the pathway to playing at a high representative level is clear and all the players that are here today are certainly taking their game seriously,” Tammie said.
Tammie is the junior cricket representative on the Hunter Valley Cricket Council and she and Sharon Long have spent many volunteer hours ensuring the junior rep competition runs smoothly.
She says the rep program is thriving and the games played in Singleton and Central Coast pave the way for the teams to compete against players they haven’t faced before across the rest of the state come January.
“Thes early games get the local contests out of the way before we head to Ballina, Yamba and Grafton for the January four-day carnivals,” Tammie said.
Tom Lewis is also on the Council committee and says the pathways program is as good as it has ever been.
“We have rep cricket for 12s, 13s, 14s, 15s and 17s and have the girls 13s and 15s side, we also have the Colts and Open sides and are in the process of starting an Indigenous Academy in winter,” Tom said.
“The Winter Academy is another big program,” he said.
The Hunter Valley district takes in cricket players from Raymond Terrace to Murrurundi and Merriwa and their upcoming competition is promising.
The 13s played 40 overs on Sunday going down to Lake Macquarie by 14 runs.
The 14s won by 184 runs and the 15s won by 16 wickets taking out the Lake Macquarie batting attack for 107 runs with Hunter topping that run count after losing just four wickets.
-DI SNEDDON
