Lachlan and Mitchell Cricket Council players converge on Cowra this Sunday hoping to impress Western Zone selectors ahead of the Southern NSW Country Championships in Shellharbour next month.
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The Zone side is expected to be selected within days after the encounter, with the match marking the end of the Zone’s triangular series – Mitchell and Macquarie Cricket Councils meet this Saturday.
Three weeks ago, Lachlan suffered a tight defeat against Macquarie but multiple individuals put forward a case for further representative honours.
Anthony Heraghty (45), Peter Yelland (55), Nick Berry (89) and Jacob Harvey (45) all made valuable contributions, while Cowra’s Jacob McNaught (2-39) and Brendan Traves (2-39) were Lachlan’s best bowlers.
Lachlan failed to defend its total of 4-267, Macquarie passing the runs in the 50th over with three wickets remaining.
Western Zone coach and selector, and Lachlan selector, Matt Crawley said the side’s performance was excellent.
“It went down to the last over, you couldn’t pick the winner during the last hour,” Matt Crawley said.
“A lot of blokes were getting together for the first time so they handled themselves really well.”
Crawley says, while not looking at making any significant changes to the Zone side, this weekend’s games will help determine the final make-up of the squad.
“These games will be the most recent we can reference so they will go a long way to filling positions,” Crawley said.
“When you look at the last couple of years and the success the side has had we’re not looking at making a lot of changes.
“We’ll be loyal to the incumbents but there are some positions that need filling.”
Crawley indicated he and the Zone’s selectors are looking for a spinner to replace Stuart Naden and possibly a front-line bowler and batsman.
In relation to this Sunday’s clash at Cowra’s Holman Oval, Crawley is expecting Lachlan to face another tough challenge.
“They’ve picked seven or eight Bathurst players in the side, I would suspect they’ll be pretty difficult to beat,” Crawley said.
The two sides meet at Holman Oval on Sunday, October 30 from 10am.
Lachlan XII
Nick Berry (c), Tim Berry, Josh Carmody, Greg Garlick, Peter Guthrie, Jacob McNaught, Brendan Traves (Cowra), Zachary Bayliss, Jacob Harvey, Anthony Heraghty, Sam Langford, Peter Yelland.
Mitchell XIII
Jameel Qureshi, Dan Casey, Matt Corben, Joey Coughlan, James Heath, Hugh Le Lievre, Ben Orme, Ryan Peacock, Wayne Sellers, Matt Stephen, Henry Shoemark, Josh Toole and Richie Venner.
