Hot off the back of five Bowral Blues juniors representing County NSW at December’s under 18 Country Cricket Colts Carnival, three more club juniors have made a mark at state carnivals.
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Willoughby Watson and Hayden Willebrand were both selected to play in the annual week- long under 14 Country Cricket NSW Kookaburra Cup tournament in Albury in early January.
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Willoughby was subsequently selected for the higher honour of representing southern New South Wales as a top order batter at the U14 State Challenge at Dubbo, where the best junior cricketers from across the state gather to compete.
It’s the second time Willoughby has made an appearance at the State Challenge, having made the under 13 division last January. Willoughby also co-captained the under 14 Greater Illawarra side, through this season’s Sydney-based Graeme Moore Shield.
Hayden meanwhile has been participating with Highlands District Cricket Association juniors at the annual under 14 Graeme Malcolm Shield in Newcastle.
He is this season’s top run-scorer for his Bowral Blues Stage 3 team in the Highlands District Cricket Association (HDCA) junior competition.
Both Willoughby and Hayden form part of Bowral Blues Cricket Clubs development program which sees junior’s play up in the senior’s competition.
This gives Blues juniors invaluable opportunities to accelerate their cricketing skills in a more challenging environment.
Meanwhile, 11-year old Blues junior Annalee Watson has earned the distinction of selection for the inaugural Cricket NSW girls under 13 State Challenge in Wellington.
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Just one year after taking up cricket, Annalee finished as a top ten bowler for the state competition and third best bowler for her ‘Country Thunder’ team, achieving a bowling average of 7.0 and an economy of 3.0.
This follows Annalee’s selection to the PSSA state carnival in Maitland before Christmas, where she finished as the best batter and bowler for her south coast team.
Annalee was also recognised as Bowral Public School’s most valuable player in the PSSA knockout competition played throughout 2018.
Bowral Public School has made the top 8 in the state-wide competition twice in a row.
Annalee follows in the steps of other Highlands representative girls who have either played with or been coached by figures from Bowral Blues Cricket Club, including Charlotte Menzies, Eliza Heinecke and Hilary Swan.
In December Blues juniors Nick Gardner, James Morton, Fionn Parker, Ravi Wikramanyake and Ben Tucker all participated in premier Country Cricket NSW Colts competition in Narrabri.
Other Blues’ junior breakthroughs of recent times include batter Charlie Dummer, who rose through the ranks of the Blues before making a first-grade break in Sydney, and pace bowler Dom O’Shannessy, who at just 15 earned a Baggy Green Cap after being selected for Australia’s under 17 squad.
Bowral Blues Cricket Club said the ongoing junior successes reflected the club’s approach to nurturing juniors and ensuring that players of all ages and ability are given opportunities to excel.
