THAT New South Wales Country missed out on a shot at claiming Australian Country Championship honours last year is something that still irritates Bathurst cricket talent Bec Cady.
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So when the wicket-keeper batsman lines up for the Bush Breakers in the 2018 edition of the tournament from this Sunday in Geraldton, Western Australia, she is intent on becoming a national champion.
“I’m pretty keen this year to go back and I want to bring home the title this year for sure, third wasn’t good enough last year,” Cady, who is now based in Sydney, said.
“It was a bit crushing last year losing that semi-final. It came down to the last ball, we put ourselves in that position, so it was very disappointing.
“But this year I definitely want to win, we’ve got a good team and I think we can take it out.”
While the loss to Victoria Country in that semi-final – the Bush Breakers falling two runs short of victory in the Twenty20 format match – hurt, Cady did have a good tournament in terms of personal performances.
She was named as the Female Player of the Tournament and earned a spot in the Australian Country XII honours team. Cady made 177 runs opening the batting across the eight games she played, while her work behind the stumps included a pair of run-out assists.
So far this season Cady’s form with the bat for club side Penrith in the Sydney Women’s Cricket competition has not been as good as she would’ve like.
She is only averaging 17 batting in the top order, her top score a 48 in the opening round. However, Cady’s much happier with her glove work with four catches and four stumpings in eight games.
“To be honest I’ve had a few horrible games and I’ve had a few unreal catches go against me – shots you don’t think anyone will catch it and they’ve done this miracle catch. But that’s just cricket I guess, you’ve got to take the good with the bad,” she said.
“But I think my keeping this year has definitely picked up a lot in so many ways. I’ve been really happy with the keeping side of things, so hopefully I can catch up on the batting side of things next week.
“Definitely confidence is a major key, so I’ve been working on a bit of patience in the nets batting to try and get that confidence back up there.
“I had a good run the other week when we played Parramatta in the first Twenty20 game, I felt really good at the crease, so I’m pretty happy.”
Cady was happy Bush Breakers selectors kept their faith in her and picked her for the January 7-13 tournament. She hopes it will lead to bigger things for her cricketing career.
“It’s a good step for me in the Twenty20 stuff, it’s a pathway to try and get into the Big Bash. I’m stoked to be named as vice captain as well,” she said. “I think my role in a team has always been a bit of a motivator.”
The Bush Breaker face Northern Territory in their opener.