IT'S been a challenging start to the Country Cricket NSW Under 19s Women's Country Championships for Western but coach Steve Muller is confident that his young squad are taking a lot away from the experience.
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Western have brought a relatively young team over to the Newcastle tournament this week, with several players backing up from the recent under 16s edition of the state carnival.
The team went down by seven wickets in the opening 30 over contest with Central Northern on Wednesday and in the next day's opening Twenty20 game they were bested by ACT Southern Districts to the tune of five wickets.
Bathurst's Callee Black top scored with 47 in the opening game and fellow Bathurst Bushrangers' club mate Amy Corbett had bowling figures on 2-1 in Thursday's following match.
Muller said it's been a delight to watch his team giving it everything they've got against their more experienced opponents.
"They're going really well and they batted well yesterday to get 141 from their 30 overs. Callee Black top scored and played beautifully," he said.
"They were coming up against two amazing batters. One is in the WBBL squad for the Thunder and the other is in the metro 19s squad.
"We've got a really young team. Seven of our 12 girls are still eligible for under 16s, and they're gelling together really well as a team."
Along with Black, Maddy Spence (22) and Amali McNeill (15) made contributions to the Western total in their opening game.
Orange's Montana Griffith (2-20) picked up both of the wickets for Western during Central Northern's chase.
Western were truly put under the pump by ACT on Thursday as they were restricted to 6-64 from their 20 overs, with Amy Maslin (13) the only player in double figures.
Nikera Hann (1-4) and Black (0-6) limited ACT well during their spells but their opponents soon worked their way into the match and chased down the total with six overs to spare.
"The wet conditions and a bit of uneven pitches have made things a little tough but they all contributed today. The top score was only 13, but Amy Corbett came on and bowled well at the end," he said.
"Nikera Hann bowled well with Callee Black at the top. I think it's all just really good experience for these girls. We're easily the youngest team here, and I think that gives us a lot of optimism for the years ahead if we can keep this group together.
"They're a great bunch of girls and they're really enjoying their time here."
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