LIAM Gough is chasing the national title he missed out on in 2008.

The James Sheahan Catholic High School student was yesterday named in the NSW All Schools 1st XI for the School Sport Australia (SSA) Under 15 Cricket Championships this month.

Gough, a fast bowler, was part of the NSW side which finished second to Victoria at the SSA 12 years and under championships back in 2008.

This time he is hoping to bring home a gold medal after the under 15s championships from February 20-26.

“It’s a very strong side all round,” Gough said of his NSW team.

It was a long process for the 14-year-old to be selected in the NSW side.

After initially playing for his school team, Gough was chosen in the NSW Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC) team which played a selection carnival against Combined High Schools (CHS) and Combined Independent Schools (CIS) in December last year.

During this carnival Gough took 2-24 off eight overs and 1-16 off five overs in his two games.

He also performed with the bat.

“I batted once and was 25 not out, which is pretty good for a bowler,” he grinned.

On Wednesday this week the final selection match was washed out and the players spent a few hours at the Sydney Cricket Ground nets instead.

Yesterday the chosen players were given the good news.

“I was surprised and happy,” Gough said.

It has been two years since Gough played in his last national championships and he knows things will be tougher this time around.

Despite this, the nerves aren’t getting to him.

“I’m excited because I love playing cricket so much,” he said.

“I’ve played so much cricket that I don’t really get nervous any more. I just go out there and have fun.”

When Gough says he plays a lot of cricket, he’s not exaggerating.

This season alone the Year 9 student has played with his school team, the SJS Coffee Club open juniors’ side, Cavaliers’ first grade team and the Orange, Mitchell and Western Zone under 16 sides.

From the SSA championships an Australian side is selected but Gough’s focus is firmly on helping NSW to the national title.

Gough is one of only a few players from the Central West who have been selected in the NSW side over the years, including Blake Dean (Bathurst), Chris Tremain (Yeoval), Tim Armstrong (Dubbo) and Andrew Page (Dubbo).