What a week it has been for Ben Schofield.
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Not only did the Orange City first grader notch his first ever century over the weekend, but he and 12 other youngsters have been chosen to represent Western Zone Colts at the Country Colts Championships at Albury next month.
So what has brought about this recent purple patch? Schofield puts it down to a slight change in technique.
"I'm just training with my dad most days down at the nets," he said.
"We've been working on my backlift because something wasn't quite right; It wasn't coming up early enough.
"So I think that's helped a bit."
That dedication to the craft became apparent for Orange City at the start of last year. Before then, Schofield - who still lives in Young - would play cricket around his local area.
But he had a desire for more.
I went to Orange City and had a couple training sessions with them and decided to make the move.
- Ben Schofield
"It's a better competition in Orange," he said.
"There wasn't much cricket in Young and so I went to Orange City and had a couple training sessions with them and decided to make the move."
Now he travels two hours to Orange and the two hours back to Young each Saturday, just for a shot to further his career.
He will hope that hard work pays off when he lines up for the Colts team.
Despite his Chairman's XI side falling to Dubbo in their one Colts game a week-and-a-half ago, Schofield shined.
He scored a half-century in that game which proved enough for the selectors to give him a shot in Albury.
"I was pretty pumped," he said.
"Looking to get out there and show what I can do."
So don't expect him to take any time off over Christmas with the carnival just a couple of weeks away.
"I'll be down there at the nets, still trying out new things," he said.
"Hopefully the form keeps going and I'll keep training hard and I'll keep piling up the run."
But he won't be the only Orange player looking to impress.
In their match against Dubbo Blake Weymouth top scored for Orange, Nelson Shepperd picked up two wickets while Harry McGregor bagged three for himself. All three of them were also picked for the Western Zone Colts team.
The following 13 players and two coaches and a manager have been chosen to represent Western Zone Colts at the Country Colts Championships at Albury from 5-7 January 2021:
- WESTERN ZONE COLTS: Tom Coady (captain) - Dubbo, Mikey McNamara - Cowra, Blake Weymouth - Orange, Cooper Brien - Bathurst, Koda Sissian - Dubbo, Ben Schofield - Young, Harry Bayliss - Parkes, Ethan Muller - Bathurst, Nelson Shepherd - Orange, Harry McGregor - Orange, Harrison Starr - Cowra, Mac Webster - Cowra, Lawson Shepherd - Dubbo, Garth Dean - Bathurst - coach, Glenn Shepherd - Dubbo - manager, Damian Hanrahan Bathurst - assistant coach.
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