By ANYA WHITELAW

WITH an older brother who has played Test cricket for Australia, Bathurst teenager Ryan Peacock could be forgiven if he felt pressure to perform each time he strode out to the crease.

But Peacock rarely thinks of himself as Trent Copeland’s little brother in that context and he most certainly has plenty of talent in his own right.

Peacock was recently named in the Cricket NSW Under 17s Academy, a selection which could lead him to representing his state at the national championships later this year.

NSW seam bowler Copeland took to twitter to congratulate his sibling and while his #whacksmearoundeverywhere could be seen as just a message of brotherly love, there are plenty of bowlers who have been punished by Peacock of late.

Last season he hit two centuries – one playing in the opens division of the Bathurst District Junior Cricket Association competition, the other representing the Mitchell Cricket Council under 16s.

He also performed well for Western Zone at the annual Bradman Cup under 16s carnival, his efforts including a 68 and 53 batting at number four.

His reputation as a leading junior saw him play 11 Bathurst first grade games for Rugby Union as well as taking part in the Country Colts carnival for under 19s.

It is little wonder his cricket contemporaries see him as a talent in his own right rather than trying to compare him to his brother.

“I don’t feel it [pressure] heaps, it gets brought up, but because I am not as bowler as such, more of a batsman, I don’t really feel it,” he said.

“We are both a bit different.

“I did a fair bit of work on my batting in the pre-season, but I think playing lot of cricket this season helped, playing first grade helped.

“I went well at Bradman Cup for Western and was in the leading run scorers there. From that I was picked to play at the State Challenge [under 17s] and from that got picked in this academy squad.

“It was good at Bradman Cup as I was allowed to bat like I felt I could and score freely. That helped a lot as I was very relaxed.

“It was good getting to play under 19s for Western as well, hopefully I can do that this season again.”

The Cricket NSW Under 17s Academy squad involves around 50 players from the NSW Country, ACT and NSW Metropolitan regions.

They will work together before being separated for a series of challenge matches at the end of August.

From there the NSW/ACT Country and NSW Metropolitan sides to contest the national championships from September 26 to October 8 will be selected.

Peacock is looking forward to the experience he will gain as being a member of the academy, but he also has his sight set on gaining higher representative honours.

“We have a training this weekend at the SCG, strength and conditioning stuff, some skills stuff and we also get an individual program,” he said.

“I’ve only watched games there before, so playing on the SCG is a bonus. They have got very good facilities.

“I am thinking I have a pretty good chance of going further because there are a lot of younger guys from Country in the squad. I have played against pretty much all of the guys in that squad and know where I sit.”