While immensely proud of the end result, Western Zone coach Steve Connolly feels his side could have won the Bradman Cup at Newcastle had things gone a little differently.
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The under-16 NSW Country Championship came to an end on Thursday, with the undefeated Riverina finishing as champions and Western Zone ultimately finishing fourth.
Incredibly though, Western only lost one one game out of four, to the eventual champions on day two of the competition.
“When we came away we were disappointed but happy to win three of four matches,” Connolly said.
“We won three of four and lost to the eventual winners on the hottest day.
“It was over 40 and we were out west away from the coast, we lost (Dubbo’s) Henry Railz to some heat stress when he was batting well.
“He came off and then (Bathurst’s) Nic Broes, who got about 70, got out very next ball so our chase really came to a halt.
“But we performed well and really matched them (for the most part).”
Connolly was delighted with the all-round performances of his side.
The only time Western Zone scored below 200 was in the loss against Riverina, where the heat-impacted side posted 192.
There’s definitely a group of about four or five who are in the running for possible Country teams so that’s great to see.
- Steve Connolly
On two occasions Connolly’s team also bowled out opposition for less than 160.
“We batted really well for most of the tournament,” Parkes’ Connolly said.
“All in all it was good for us and our bowling performances backed that up.”
Connolly singled out Railz for praise, with the South Dubbo gun finishing with 159 runs at an average of 53 while he also performed well with the new ball.
Western captain Thomas Nelson also finished with 159 runs, at an average of 39.75 and they are just two of Western’s players putting their hand up for higher honours.
“There’s definitely a group of about four or five who are in the running for possible Country teams so that’s great to see,” Connolly said.
Broes, Brock Larance and Tom Atlee were also singled out as potential Country players but Connolly added he had been pleased with his whole squad, including Orange’s Harry Pearce.
“We got good reports back from the umpires about how they played so we can’t ask for more than that,” he said.
Pearce, one of Cavaliers’ up-and-comers, bowled superbly but without luck for the entire tournament.
He finished up taking just two wickets, but in a signal of his consistency and reliability they came at just 25 runs a pop.
Pearce’s best figures came on the opening day against North Coastal, when the 16-year-old quick took 1-10.
Nick Hall and Larance were Western’s best performed bowlers, snaring seven wickets each.