The young guns firing at under-17 national cricket championships
Tasmania’s brightest talents are receiving a valuable learning curve as the state’s northern facilities go on show at the Under-17 National Cricket Championships. See who has been firing over the first two days.
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Australia’s best young male cricketers are going head-to-head at the under-17 national championships.
Check out our daily reviews below.
TASSIE EXPERIENCING VALUABLE LEARNING CURVE
Tasmania under-17s coach Marc Simonds says his squad is receiving a valuable “learning curve” as the state’s north takes centre stage for the national championships this week.
The hosts got the chance to play a day nighter at UTAS Stadium for the second clash of their campaign against South Australia on Friday.
They fell to a 110-run defeat but are showing signs a first win may not be too far way.
“To give them the experience of playing on arguably the best facility and surface in the northern half of the state is something the players should be extremely grateful for,” Simonds said.
“For officials to go out of their way to push hard for a day night game, which adds another element for the players, was a great opportunity.
“The boys lapped it up but things didn’t go our way. We didn’t execute our game plan as we would have liked to.”
Tasmania faced a strong Victorian Metro team on Thursday and were beaten by 167 runs, with right arm seamer Lachlan Coe standing out with 4-61 and Jericoh Dickins (33) top scored with the bat.
On Friday Tarkyn Jones was the mainstay of the run chase against South Australia with 43.
“The likes of the Victorian teams and SACA had some handy players, it’s a good learning curve for our players to know what the standard is at their age group level,” Simonds said.
“It provides an avenue of where you’re currently at as a player, and where you need to be to match it up against the best players in Australia.
“While it’s an exciting opportunity to represent your state, it also highlights the competitiveness in and around where you need to be as a player versus your peers.
“For us as coaches, we’re seeing improvement in the work some of them have done in the off season and it’s showing in games.
“We feel if the guys stick to their strengths and adapt to a game plan, hopefully a few results can go our way.
“We probably haven’t been disciplined enough so far to be honest. If we put it together we can come away with a couple of wins, but they’re still young cricketers.”
Saturday was a rest day, with Tasmania wrapping up its pool matches against Victoria Country at Launceston’s Invermay Park on Sunday, and NSW Country at Devonport Oval on Monday.
“We’ve always had some really nice facilities. I know when Cricket Australia have put on carnivals in the southern half of the state, we’ve had some really good reviews and remarks on what’s happening down there,” Simonds said.
“But it’s nice to put the northern half of the state on show, and show not only in the premier league but the regional areas of Tassie, we do have some nice facilities.
“There’s no doubt more funding and upgrades won’t go astray, but we’re heading in the right direction.”
DAY 2 REVIEW
NSW Country coach Greg McLay branded the “purity” of under-17s cricket as its best quality after his side fell just short in their “healthy” rivalry with NSW Metro at the under-17 national cricket championships in Launceston on Friday.
In arguably the best game of the tournament thus far, Country made 9-255 in reply to Metro’s 7-261 at Invermay Park.
Metro notched a second win in as many games in the tournament thanks to a consistent contribution from their top six.
Openers Angus Tesoriero (57) and Athan Maraziotis (50) laid the foundation, with Toby Robinson (46 not out) finishing off the innings
Cooper Pullen was the standout bowler for Country with 4-38 off eight overs.
Country gave itself a chance to run down the total with openers Harry Price (36) and skipper Hunter Hall (73) starting well, but three wickets apiece to Aarush Soni and Myles Kapoor sealed the win.
Asked if there is a bit more spice to their rivalry with Metro, McLay said: “There is a bit but in saying that, more and more of our country boys are travelling to Sydney to play a lot.
“They know a lot of those (Metro) boys well and I think that’s really healthy. But there’s always a rivalry, they don’t need to get up for these contests.
“There’s always a lot of respect between the groups and a few are good mates.
“Obviously you’re keen to see your own team do well, but the joy of an under 17s carnival is seeing the talent around Australia and what we can look forward to in five to ten years.
“Players tend to be getting contracts a bit earlier. These kids aren’t as far off as they think.
“I love the 17s because of the purity of it, they’re purely focused on cricket and they aren’t thinking too far ahead.”
NSW Country won a much lower scoring contest by six wickets over Victoria Country on day one after dismissing their rivals for 70.
“I’ve been fortunate to be at a national championships at Launceston previously when it was shared with Hobart,” McLay said.
“The thing I was looking forward to most was playing on these grounds, which are magnificent.
“The outfields are manicured and the wickets are generally good, albeit yesterday the wicket was a bit soft after the rain we had the previous day.”
McLay said his side enjoyed the chance to play at UTAS Stadium, an AFL and BBL standard venue, against Victoria Country.
“When we came in for the game yesterday the boys were a it overawed,” he said.
“Being country boys they don’t play in sadiums of that nature that often.”
In other games on day two on Friday, Queensland’s Blake Armstrong produced a statement innings while teammate Hayden Hamilton also shone brightly as their side overcame a pesky Victorian Country team to win by six wickets.
Armstrong, a left hander, blazed his way to a half century from just 47 deliveries before pushing onto 70 (62 balls). Armstrong could not have been more impressive, using his feet to hit 48 runs in either fours or sixes.
Hamilton (52 not out, 73 balls) was also eye catching, and together with Armstrong he propelled Queensland to 4-207 chasing 206.
The Victorian Country players had been bold with the bat, cajoled along by Max Parrott’s thrilling 50 from 59 balls which helped his side to a competitive 8-206.
Victoria’s defence of its total then gathered momentum when Logan Hogan bowled Queensland captain Steve Hogan (27, 26 balls), but Uni’s Armstrong and Wynnum’s Hayden Hamilton combined to steer the Maroons in the right direction.
In other results ACT beat Northern Territory by 36 runs and WA prevailed over Victoria Metro by four wickets with seven balls to spare.
Tasmania were playing a day night fixture against South Australia, and were chasing the visitors’ 7-264 at time of print.
DAY 1 REVIEW
Bowlers exerted their dominance on day one of the Australian Boys Under-17 Cricket Championships at Launceston on Thursday.
At UTAS Stadium, NSW Country skipper Hunter Hall and Harry Kershler both took 3-11 to skittle Victoria Country for just 70 in their 50-over contest.
Despite crumbling to 3-9 early in the run chase after Hamish Brade (3-7) gave Victoria Country some hope, NSW Country steadied the ship through Blake Cattle (36 not out) and Daniel Craig (25 not out) to prevail by six wickets.
Western Australia’s attack also made light work of the Northern Territory, bowling them out for just 97 in 47.3 overs, with Riley Clayton (4-17) the standout for the victors.
Western Australia needed less than 16 overs to chase down the total with nine wickets in hand, with Vishver Morendage (30), Dylan Ratter (36 not out) and Zed Hollick (23 not out) making strong contributions.
Two old mates from the Lakes Knights club north of Brisbane united to help bowl Queensland to a winning start over the ACT.
Under age right arm fast bowler Theo Tsingos claimed 2-23 from 6.1 overs while leg spinner Lakshdeep Singh snared 2-29 as the young Maroons bowlers combined to dismiss their rivals for 142. Queensland responded with 2-143 to win by eight wickets.
Tsingos (Norths) and Singh (Sandgate-Redcliffe), who both made their first grade debuts prior to Christmas, celebrated being reunited in style.
Queensland’s bowlers worked well as a unit, with Brisbane Grammar School’s Eli Brain (Norths, 2-23), the Sunshine Coast fast bowler Thomas Town (2-30) and Rockhampton Grammar School paceman Sam Gassman (1-32) eroding the ACT innings.
This was despite a mid-innings rally by ACT pair Aminda Weerasooriya (39) and Steven Maglasis (22) who defied the Queensland attack.
Queensland’s pursuit of 142 was swift and to the point, with a 22 over blitz highlighted by captain Steve Hogan’s blazing 60 from 39 balls, while Western Suburbs opener Sohaan Sharma stroked 51 not out (67 balls).
Hogan, the U19 Australian batsman from the Sandgate-Redcliffe club, hit five fours and five sixes during his brief time at the crease.
NSW Metro’s bowlers also did most of the heavy lifting in a 118-run win over South Australia.
NSW Metro batted first and made 6-235, with middle order batters Toby Robinson (78 not out), Sumair Sira (48) and skipper Yash Deshmukh (32) setting up the competitive total.
Aarush Soni (5-22 off 8.2 overs) ripped through South Australia’s line-up to help dismiss them for 117 inside 34 overs. Opener Hayden Barbulovic (31) was the only South Australian batter to score more than 16.
Hosts Tasmania faced a tough first-up assignment against traditional heavyweights Victoria Metro.
The visitors were sent in to bat and made an imposing 7-290, with top order batters Aryan Sharma (73) and Jack Czosnek (77) doing most of the damage.
Lachlan Coe enjoyed a great start to the tournament for Tasmania with 4-61, while Bailey Shead (2-45) was the other multiple wicket taker.
Tasmania slumped to 5-28 in its run chase but battled on to eventually be dismissed for 113, with Jericoh Dickins (33) and Mason Wright (26) giving the most resistance.
Parth Rath took 4-26 for Vic Metro, with opening bowler Joe Curtain setting up the win early in Tasmania’s innings with 3-10.
Originally published as The young guns firing at under-17 national cricket championships
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