Amy Hunter shock at Australian U19s cricket selection
Kairi cricketer Amy Hunter has made another major leap towards achieving her dreams after being named in Australia’s under-19s women’s team to tour Sri Lanka next month.
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Kairi cricketer Amy Hunter has made another major leap towards achieving her dreams after being named in Australia’s under-19s women’s team to tour Sri Lanka next month.
Hunter has long been considered one of the premier junior prospects coming out of the Far North, and the Tablelands talent has impressed at every level, but even she was surprised to get the call.
“It honestly hasn’t set in yet,” Hunter said.
“It was totally unexpected, so until it all happens, I don’t think I’m going to believe it.”
Hunter has spent the past few months in Canberra, where she is playing for ACT Meteors in her maiden WNCL campaign, and the teenager admitted she struggled to hold it together when coach and former international Erin Osborne told her of her selection.
“We’d just finished our last WNCL game the week before, we had a week off so I was up in Queensland and towards the end of the week she called, which was a bit strange,” Hunter said. “I answered and she said guess what, and told me.
“I didn’t answer for a solid few seconds then I was just trying to thank her without crying. There were some tears, I was trying to hide them.”
The next call went to her parents, Lee and Juanita, and this time it was mum’s turn to hide the waterworks, according to Hunter.
“I know mum definitely would’ve been crying, I think she did the same thing in trying to hide it,” Hunter said.
“It felt amazing to be able to tell them because they are biggest reason I’m down here.”
Hunter, an Atherton junior who has also played for Innisfail in the women’s league, Piccones Badgers in the Barrier Reef Big Bash and Sunshine Coast in the Queensland premier competition, is in the form of her life but hadn’t considered national selection.
“I was happy with how I was going, I knew I’d been bowling the best I’ve ever bowled or performed, but I was so caught up in moving to Canberra and playing for the Meteors and being around that team that I didn’t think past that,” she said.
“There’s so many talented girls in this age group I don’t see myself as good as them yet. It’s great to see others see my talent, I guess, that I don’t necessarily see all the time.
“(Playing in the WNCL is) phenomenal, I’ve loved every minute of it.
“That whole trip (for her debut) was very last minute. Dad got a call three days before and told I had to fly down, so I was on the plane the next day.
“It was all really quick and I didn’t have time to think, and that was honestly good for me.”
Australia’s under-19s will play a tri-series with Sri Lanka and England, which will help players prepare for the 2025 under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in Malaysia.
The T20 series runs from March 28 to April 3, with a One Day series from April 5-9.
matthew.mcinerney1@news.com.au
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Originally published as Amy Hunter shock at Australian U19s cricket selection
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