Under-13s
The Murray Valley Cricket Association played Junior Country Week last week with five local young cricketers representing the Murray Valley in the under-13B division.
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The squad played against the might of Bendigo, in Bendigo, on day one.
Then followed Shepparton at Finley with the week culminating with a fixture against the Seymour CA at Broadford.
“All squad members demonstrated significant progress from the first day to the third game,” observed Mick Butler, coach of the under-13B team.
“We set a few team and individual goals at the start of the week and it was gratifying to notice the improvement in all three facets of the game – batting, bowling and fielding.”
Best performer of the week was Tocumwal’s Mia Owen who top scored against the undefeated Seymour team with a swashbuckling 17 runs.
Mia also took two wickets against Shepparton to finish with four wickets for the week with her skilful, stump-to-stump bowling.
Other local young cricketers to participate were Daniel Burn (Deniliquin) who batted for 22 overs on day one against Bendigo and really valued his wicket.
Tocumwal’s Archie Chellew was a consistent run scorer over the week and managed a start in all three innings.
Berrigan was represented by two up and coming young cricketers in Josh Monteith and Lachlan Parker.
Both boys adapted well in taking their knowledge and skills to the representative level.
“Both boys from Berrigan bowled extremely well and I’m sure that the experience will hold them in good stead when they return to club cricket,” Butler said.
An under-13A team also participated in the competition, coached by Travis Thompson.
A full report was not available at the time of going to print yesterday.
Under-14s
A squad of 12 of the Murray Valleys finest under-14s cricketers took on the challenge of the Northern Rivers Country Week from January 3-5.
In a three games series, the side played 40 over cricket against the Bendigo, Shepparton, and Goulburn Murray cricket associations.
Two games were held at the MVCA’s home ground at Katunga, while the third was at Kialla Oval in Shepparton.
“While the results didn’t quite go our way, the team showed resilience in some ultra-competitive games of cricket over the three day,” said coach Ben Lucas.
Highlights of the tournament include Liam Sutton from Tocumwal Cricket Club taking seven wickets over the three games.
This included a spell of bowling against Bendigo of 5/20 off eight overs, with all his wickets being bowled.
Another standout effort was Charlie McCallum from the Deni Rhinos Cricket Club, who took 3/13 off seven overs against Shepparton.
He also took a catch and had a direct hit run out during their innings.
“It was fantastic to see the boys come together as a team over the three days, given that they all do battle against each other in our local competition on a Saturday,” Lucas said.
“They should all be proud of their efforts.”
Liam’s mum Kim Sutton said her son and the rest of the team had a great week.
“He (Liam) had a wonderful time at Country Week and learned a lot,” she said.
“Ben was a fantastic coach and instilled team work into to the squad, which Liam also learned from.
“He took seven wickets over the three days which he was very happy with, as well as top scoring with the bat on day two.
“He will now go back to his weekend cricket where he plays under-14s, under-16s and A-grade which he thoroughly loves,” said mum Kim.
Under-15s
With six teams in the comp, MVCA’s under-15 side drew the two strongest teams and eventual grand finalists in the opening rounds.
The first match was an away game against Seymour.
MVCA lost the toss and were sent in to bat.
The pitch was lively, the ball was swinging and seaming.
The team lost wickets steadily, all out for 106.
Sam Crossley was the second top scorer with 10 runs.
Whilst we didn’t get the same movement bowling, the boys bowled tightly restricting Seymour’s scoring and getting a steady stream of wickets.
Unfortunately, Seymour was able to chase down our total with five overs to spare.
The next two days were home games in Nathalia.
First up was the competition runner-up Shepparton, who won easily the previous game with 15 overs to spare and only losing two wickets.
We again lost the toss and Shepparton batted first.
The team performed well in the field, getting Shepparton all out for 93 runs.
Sam Crossley bowled five overs taking 1/18 and Hamish Baker bowled five overs taking 1/20.
Sam Crossley and Andrew Smith opened the batting and got the team off to a great start with 25 and 13 runs respectively.
They looked in great touch, scoring at 4.5 runs an over.
When Andrew then Sam were dismissed, Murray Valley were not able to get any partnerships going.
The side lost wickets regularly and fell short of the target, all out for 75 runs.
The last game was against eventual winners Bendigo.
MVCA were determined for a better showing with the bat.
We lost the toss and Bendigo elected to bat.
Having scored 8/255 and 6/250 their previous games, Bendigo were full of confidence and got off to a quick start.
MVCA tried hard in the field, and at the end of the 45 overs Bendigo were 5/235.
Hamish bowled six overs taking 1/32, Charlie four overs with 1/18, Sam two overs with 0/20 and Andrew four overs for 0/31.
MVCA were all out for 137, which was our best total over the three days.
The team worked extremely hard and played some fantastic cricket together.
It was a great lesson for all the players facing strong opposition and learning new skills that they can then take back to their regular Saturday matches.
Under-16s
Under-16s also had a tough tournament but came away with valuable cricket lessons in fielding, batting and bowling.
They also learnt to adapt quickly to new team mates and work together as a team.
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