WINTER is coming, but rather than packing away his bat and pads, Ryan Peacock is working on taking the next step with his promising cricket career.
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Last week the talented teenager, who plays his club cricket in Bathurst for Rugby Union, was named in the ACT/NSW Country under 19 academy squad.
That squad of 24 will train together in the build up to the national championships in December, with weekly strength and conditioning plus skills sessions.
Peacock will also head to the United Kingdom on June 30 for an 11-day tour with the NSW Combined High Schools side.
The Bathurst all-rounder will be skipper of the team which will play games against London, Birmingham, Todmorden, York, Grantham, Leicester and Bath.
The experience he gains playing overseas will be valuable as he looks to make the final cut to compete at the under 19 nationals in Brisbane.
It is the second successive season that Peacock has been named in the squad, which is packed full of emerging talents.
“I was actually surprised with some of the guys who were in there, well not surprised, but the strength of the squad was just unreal, especially with blokes like Jason Sangha and Ian Carlisle, who played in that 19s tournament [against Sri Lanka]. Having them there is pretty cool,” Peacock said.
“It’s a pretty prestigious squad and that age group as well is borderline going into state cricket, so it’s really good to be recognised.
“I think in that sort of environment the games are getting watched pretty intensely.”
Peacock will attend the training camps before taking on the NSW Metro squad later in the year at the Under 19s State Challenge. After that match the final Country squad to attend the national titles will be named.
The Bathurst talent is hopeful of making the cut this season.
“I had some really good feedback last year in regards to how close I was to making the side. The only things which was sort of in the way was that there was a guys in the squad that did exactly the same thing that I do,” he said.
“He played Australian under 19s the year, before so I knew it was going to be tough being young and having him do the same sort of thing. He’s out of the age group now, so things are looking pretty good. I’ve just got to keep going with it, keep the ball rolling after what I did this year.”
The squad is coached by former Tasmanian all-rounder Luke Butterworth.