They were a force at last season's Cricket NSW Country Colts Carnival but HSC clashes and an injury to a key player have already thrown some challenges at the Western under 19s.
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Western begins their campaign this Tuesday at Shoalhaven with a strong core of returning players from last year's champion squad and a host of exciting newcomers to the age group.
The defending champions will be without Dubbo's Fletcher Hyde and Mudgee's Fergus Fergusson but have brought in Bathurst's Liam Cain and Lithgow's Murray Staines to take their place.
Orange is represented by Tom Blowes and Luke Hunter.
Western ended a 16-year wait for colts glory last season when they enjoyed an undefeated run at Queanbeyan.
Garth Dean returns to once again coach the under 19s team under some "difficult" circumstances.
"With the timing of the carnival it made things difficult with the HSC and we also lost Anthony Atlee with calf surgery so having to make a couple of changes wasn't ideal," he said.
"We've ended up with quite a young side but they're all great players, and I think our bowling is actually stronger than last year because we've still got Riley Keen but we're also adding Angus Parsons, who's been bowling really well in first grade in Sydney.
"We've got some great extra spin options now. We're also not going to lose anything in our fielding, which was a big strength for us last time.
"The only question mark is the younger players who are key bats and whether they can stand up to guys who are two years older."
If Western's bowling attack lives up to its potential then there's a strong chance that it alone can take the team to another great result.
"We're going to be relying heavily on our fielding and bowling to restrict totals," Dean said.
"The batters that have come in, even though they're young they're high level players. We've got two state squad 17s players in there."
Western's first match of the tournament will be against the North Coastal Colts on Tuesday at 10am.
WESTERN: Hugh Sienkiewicz (c), Tom Blowes, Liam Cain, Tyson Deebank, Luke Hunter, Riley Keen, Edward Murray, Angus Parsons, Harry Roscarel, Lachlan Rummans, Murray Staines, Hugh Taylor, Connor Whale
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Alexander Grant
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
