Newcastle have been crowned McDonald’s Country Colts champions following a vital bonus point win over Central Northern on the final day of the carnival, which was held in the South Coast and Shoalhaven areas.
Newcastle clinch Country Colts championships
The McDonald's Country Colts competition is a regional representative cricket tournament designed for male players under the age of 19. Over the course of the four-day tournament, young cricketers compete for their respective zones, aiming to secure the prized Hughes Lilienthal Shield, as well as a place in the NSW Country U19 squad for the youth national championships scheduled for December this year.
As the last day of play approached, seven out of the eight teams were in contention for the Hughes Lilienthal Shield, with the tournament ladder evenly balanced. Newcastle, Central Coast, and Riverina had nine points, Central Northern had seven, while Western, Greater Illawarra and North Coastal sat on six points each.
Newcastle’s shield-clinching performance saw bowler Jamie Dickson claim four Central Northern wickets in his first three overs before completing his five-wicket haul later in the fixture to finish with figures of 5-42 and restrict the opposition to 107 all out.
Joe Merlino (74*) and Joseph Gillard (33*) put on an unbeaten 108-run opening stand as Newcastle claimed a 10-wicket win to claim the Hughes Lilienthal Shield.
The final competition table read:
|
# |
Team |
Points |
Played |
Won |
Lost |
Quotient |
|
1 |
Newcastle |
14.0 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
1.848 |
|
2 |
North Coastal |
10.0 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
1.735 |
|
3 |
Western |
10.0 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
1.043 |
|
4 |
Greater Illawarra |
10.0 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0.725 |
|
5 |
Riverina |
9.0 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
1.392 |
|
6 |
Central Coast |
9.0 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
1.017 |
|
7 |
Central Northern |
7.0 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0.927 |
|
8 |
Southern Districts |
0.0 |
5 |
0 |
5 |
0.303 |
The carnival had five centurions:
- Jake Scott – Riverina | 134 v Western Rd 5
- Ted Murray – Western | 134 v Riverina Rd 5
- Oscar Lyons – Riverina | 122 v Southern Districts Rd 4
- Beau Mainey - North Coastal | 107 v Southern Districts Rd 5
- Kai Croft - North Coastal | 100 v Southern Districts Rd 5
The leading wicket takers were:
- Jamie Dickson – Newcastle | 10 wickets @ 7.7 with a best of 5/42
- Ted Waterman – Southern Districts | 10 wickets @ 13.90 with a best of 7/57
- Jaylen Johnstone - Central Coast | 8 wickets @ 13.75 with a best of 2/11
- Tom Callan - Central Northern | 8 wkts @ 14.50 with a best of 3/28
- Bailey Lidgard - Central Coast | 8 wkts @ 14.50 with a best of 3/8
- Michael Amadio - Greater Illawarra | 8 wkts @ 16.63 with a best of 3/33
Jake Scott (Riverina) was named Player of the Carnival.
Cricket NSW would like to thank the volunteers of South Coast DCA – Lake Illawarra CC, Gerringong CC, The Rail CC, Shellharbour CC and Shoalhaven DCA – Shoalhaven Ex-Services CC and Berry Shoalhaven Heads CC for providing top notch facilities.
Also, to Zone Administrators Steve Davies (Greater Illawarra) and Ian Strudwick (Western) and Sean Mantle from Cricket NSW for their support.
View all fixture scores and the final table on PlayHQ - HERE