Page 62 - West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club Yearbook 2017-18

ARMIDALE COUNTRY CARNIVAL – WALTER TAYLOR SHIELD - UNDER 15S
As in previous years a bunch of our under 15 players (and support crew) headed off to Armidale in January to play in the annual Walter Taylor Shield. The competition was made up of representative teams from the Ballina, Hunter Valley, Armidale, Tamworth, Penrith and Lismore associations. Ours was the only club team invited and huge honour for our boys and we knew we had a big challenge ahead.
During the four days of the competition, the boys played 4 matches all on turf wickets (a real delight for the boys as many do not ordinarily have the opportunity to play on turf). The first 3 matches were 50 overs and the final game was 40 overs.
While results on the field did not go our way the boys stuck in there all week and there were some real highlights.
The team took part in their first day / night game under lights. It was huge learning experience for the boys as they needed to come to terms with a four piece white ball that was swinging a mile, and bat under lights in twilight for the first time. Though very challenging I am sure this is something the boys will remember for a long time.
The boys also played out a tied game against Hunter Valley. The first in the Walter Taylor Shields history. After posting only a small total with the bat, the boys were up against it to get any kind of result. But they stuck to it, never gave up and managed to take the last wicket while scores were equal. Though not a win, the boys left the field on a real high, and can look back at their determination as the thing that made the difference.
Some individual performances were also recognised at the presentation night. Well done to Oliver for his 57 in game 1 against Armidale. Nice work Louis for your 3 / 14 wicket haul in game 3, the tied game against Hunter Valley. And outstanding bowling by Alastair all week, and twice taking 3 wickets in an innings – 3/12 in game 3 against Hunter Valley and 3/35 in our final game against Tamworth.
I’d also like to call out and thank Jude for captaining the team all week. Not simple task in a team where many players have not played with each other before. But Jude showed great maturity in leading the boys and made sure everyone got a fair go. Big thanks Jude.
But the biggest success of these country carnivals is the amount of fun the boys have off the field. We had 5 new boys join us this year who didn’t go to Tamworth and the 12 boys all come from 4 different teams. So many didn’t know each other well prior to the week, but that didn’t take long to change.
And thanks to all the parents (and grandparents) for all your support. Thanks for the scoring, the washing of clothes, the lunch runs and the laughs. Thanks for letting your champion boys be part of the team and taking the time off to drive to Armidale and back! A special thanks to Alicia and Debbie for all the organisation. Things do not organise themselves, so thank you!
What a memorable week it was and looking forward to Taree next year.
Rob Hanich
Director of Juniors and Coach of the Armidale Touring Team
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