BATHURST has dominated a group of junior squads announced last week to represent Mitchell in the Western Zone Inter-Council competition.
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Four players from the Bathurst under 12s side will line up for Mitchell while another five will stride out for the Mitchell 14s.
There has been a revamping of the selection process for the under 16s, splitting the zone into east and west teams to contest the competition.
Orange and Mudgee have combined to make up the Mitchell West team, while Bathurst, Blue Mountains and Lithgow make up Mitchell East, though the squad is almost entirely made up of Bathurst players.
Blue Mountains talent Miles Bridgeland, a stand-out in his team’s recent loss to Bathurst, was the lone addition to that group along with 12 players from the local outfit.
The move was made in a bid to provide extra cricket at a representative level.
It also gives more players an opportunity to represent Mitchell in the under 16 age group, and in turn, push their cases for Western Zone selection now and in future years.
“Mitchell Cricket Council will monitor the situation during the season and make a decision as to continuing the program for next season,” Mitchell secretary Carl Sharpe said.
Mitchell East will take on Lachlan Valley at Bathurst on Sunday, November 22 in the opening round of the tournament, while Mitchell West plays Macquarie Valley in Mudgee.
Of the local group, Declan Fawkner, Tom Lynch, Hamish Siegert and Cooper Brien will represent the under 12s, while Sam Hall, Ben Cant, Matt Gault, Luke Mutton and Ben Mitchell have all made the under 14s team.
Connor Slattery, Nick Broes, Cole Mutton, Tom Geyer, Ben Parsons, Luke Powell, Aiden McBurney, Shaun Wyatt, Ryan Campbell, Deua Berry, Jacob Pepper and Brendan Pallier are in the Mitchell East squad for the 16s.
Bathurst under 12s coach Clint Bryant says that the selection of his four youngsters will be a big confidence booster after a couple of tough representative seasons.
“The boys from my team who have been picked have all come a long way in the last season and a half,” Bryant said.
“They haven’t had many wins in that time but you can see how much better they are playing and the game awareness they’ve started to develop.
“Getting picked in a side like this is a good reward for them and it will only encourage them to keep working as hard as they have been.”
