It was a big week on the cricket calendar as two local representative teams ventured across the border to compete at Country Week, carrying the hopes of their clubs and communities into a highly competitive regional showcase.
The Mount Gambier and Districts Cricket Association sent over Under 17 and an Under 15 teams to compete in the Western Waves Region 2 Country Week.
The two sides took on other Western Victorian regions including Warrnambool, Hamilton, Portland and Horsham.
Both teams had competitive weeks with the Under 15 side finishing undefeated, while the Under 17s finished second with three wins and one defeat.
Unfortunately, due to the hot weather in Victoria, the Under 15s were unable to play a grand final but given they finished first on the ladder they were named champions.
The side was by far the best in the tournament as every match was a convincing win.
Penola’s Will Harris was named player of the carnival along with being the leading run scorer.
Under 15 coach Craig Hicks thought the side battled hard against a tough schedule and tough weather conditions.
“It was pretty difficult conditions with it being nearly 40 degrees everyday,” he said.
“They were great, we had a really hard draw because we won the competition the last two years, but the boys went through undefeated which was awesome, so that’s three years in a row now.”
Heading into the tournament, Hicks was unsure how the side would however they performed well in the competition.
“I was pleasantly surprised, I was probably a bit unsure with how we would go this time round but at least half of the team exceeded my expectations,” he said.
Hicks said it was disappointing not playing a grand final but overall he believed his side was the best.
“It was a bit of a let-down not playing the grand final, but it still does not take away the fact that we were the best team by a mile,” he said.
“So I’m pretty confident our lads would have done very well in the grand final.”
Across the week Hicks thought several players performed well.
“Cooper Howard from South was really good with the bat, he’s a bottom-ager and was someone who blew me away with how good he is,” Hicks said.
“Archie Sims from South bowled really well and Harvey Virtanen from Mil Lel had some really nice innings.
“Pat Sigley from South bowled unbelievably well, he was the only boy we had with real pace and he was our leading bowler for the week by a mile, he was excellent.”
In the Under 17 competition, the Mount Gambier side met the undefeated Warrnambool Moyne Gold in the grand final with the Victorian side finishing as the clear top team.
In the grand final Warrnambool batted first and put together a strong innings.
Warrnambool’s Joshua Campbell was the difference maker with the bat, putting 83 runs on the board and helping his side to a score of 243.
Harry Hicks had a solid performance with the ball, claiming three wickets.
With a big chase in front of them, Mount Gambier struggled to get going early on with Kobi Maxwell making one along with Tayte Virtanen scoring seven.
Hicks helped build some momentum as he made 29 runs while a 42 run innings from Ryder Lindner was much needed from the side.
Jaggar Geary finished as the side’s leading scorer, making 49.
Despite a solid batting effort, the side failed to chase down the large total as they finished with 211 runs after 50 overs.
Under 17 coach Shane Grigg said he was pleased with the performance from the side across the week.
“I was very happy with the performance for the week, to me it was a very even performance, it was not left up to a few players, it was the whole group who contributed to the whole week,” he said.
Grigg knew the side would be in with a chance across the week as it was full of talented players.
“I sort of knew it would be a very competitive group, there were a lot of talented kids from the league, but it was very hard cricket throughout the whole week,” he said.
Despite not winning the grand final, Grigg was still proud of the achievement in making the big dance.
“It was still a great achievement to make it, none of the games were easy, we got tested on day one with a close victory,” he said.
“Pretty much every other game throughout the week we had to fight quite hard to get our wins to put us in position to make the grand final.
“I still think it was a great week and a great opportunity for the boys to play in a week like that.”