At a junior level, Western has enjoyed one of its best summers with the under 14s side winning the Kookaburra Cup and the Bradman Cup boys falling at the final hurdle in their bid for the Country Cricket NSW under 16s championship title.

The result of Thursday’s Bradman Cup decider tipped the Hogg-Silver ledger in Central Coast’s favour, with the 10 points accrued from that win enough to leap the Coasties a point clear of Western.

Central Coast (38), Western (37) and the Riverina (31) finished in the top three in the Hogg-Silver Shield race, a club championship of sorts awarded to the best performing zone throughout the summer.

Given the success of all of Western’s sides – the under 18s team finished the McDonalds Country Colts championship in third – Frecklington is confident the zone’s on the right path, at a junior base.

“We’ve had, for a long time, a structure in place with the off-season coaching and development,” Frecklington said.

“The final hurdle is then getting them prepared for a carnival. Being able to go hard for four days is the toughest part of these tournaments.

“We’ve had recent success with the opens, but not the same success with juniors, so this year has seen a marked improvement on where we’ve been over the years.”

Freckington praised the work of coaches Trent Hemsworth (Bradman Cup), Garth Dean (Kookaburra Cup) and colts mentor Matt Tabbernor.

He said all three, along with their staff, have been instrumental in getting Western up alongside the likes of Newcastle and the Central Coast as two of the state’s best country cricket centres.

“It’s nice to be up near the top competing. Newcastle is always potentially one of the stronger zones. To be up there is great,” Frecklington, based in Orange, said.

“Some of our victories have been massive.

“We may not have the same success next year, but I think we’re doing the right things,” he added.