Jackson Gwynne has rocketed up the representative order in the last year and his efforts haven’t gone unnoticed by state selectors.
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Gwynne played for Central North for the first time in the 2016/17 season and then earned selection into the Country Sixers team for the NSW Under 16 State challenge in Sydney last month.
His performance in the state’s capital earned him further selection in the NSW Country team to play at the National Challenge in Brisbane later this year. It has been a meteoric rise for the young fast bowler who plays first grade for Easts in the Armidale District competition.
“I had never been to a Northern Inland selection before and now I have got through to this so it has all hit me at once,” he said.
“It is pretty cool but a bit surreal too.”
Of his experience in Sydney playing alongside and against NSW’s best young talents, Gwynne said it was an immense learning curve.
“I found it a lot harder than around here, it was a lot better quality of batsmen,” he said.
“Strength and conditioning and looking after your body as a fast bowler, that is probably the biggest thing.
“It gives you a bit of a confidence boost, it makes you work harder to get into other squads which is pretty good, a bit of extra encouragement.”
Gwynne put a lot of his progression in the sport down to the help of coaches Rod Bryant and Andrew Page.
“It has helped me a lot, I went from a kid who has never had a heap of coaching to coaches that taught me a lot. Where to bowl to certain batsmen and my action, attitude towards cricket and a lot of what cricket's about,” he said.