Armidale District Cricket Association’s under 14s representative team put in an impressive batting display on Sunday to beat Tamworth Blue.
Tamworth won the toss and elected to bat first.
The visitors are known for their prowess with the ball in hand but it was the Armidale bowlers who put on a show, bowling Tamworth in 38 overs for 119.
Birthday boy Kieran Wicks opened the bowling and picked up four wickets.
When it was Armidale’s turn to step up to the crease, coach Andrew Page decided to shuffle the batting order to throw the opposition’s bowlers off their game.
Benji Marshall opened with Jye Saxby and got the side off to a solid start scoring 28 and 16 respectively.
The visiting bowlers stepped up to the plate and managed to keep the home side’s run rate down until late in the match. With just two overs to spare, batsmen Ben Murphy and Jordan King combined to finish the innings for the home side and win them the match.
Page said he was impressed with the maturity his side showed with the bat and highlighted King’s performance as being key to winning the match.
They have been bowling sides out, that is their strength and we got a bit of a psychological win over them by only losing four wickets.
- Andrew Page
"The bowling side from Tamworth, they bowled beautifully on a wicket which was difficult to bat on and our batsmen summed up the situation and batted accordingly,” he said.
"If there was one innings that won us the game, it was Jordan King with 16.
"He came in last and I think he realised how close we were to running out of overs so he pushed it along and took a heap of risk but it was enough to get us over the line.
"The Tamworth side we played on the weekend, they are a very, very good side.
"They have been bowling sides out, that is their strength and we got a bit of a psychological win over them by only losing four wickets.”
Armidale now sit on top of the under 14’s ladder.
Page expects to play Tamworth Blue in the final for the representative season and said his side will receive a boost when bowler Kareena Dawson and batsman Nick Page return to the side.
In the weekend’s other junior representative matches against Tamworth, the under 12’s fell after batting first and scoring 130. The visitors were able to chase down their total in 28 overs.
The under 16’s also suffered a loss with Tamworth reaching 218 and Armidale unable to beat it.
Ellen Dunger
Originally from the Blue Mountains, I spent my teenage years in the Riverina at boarding school before moving to Bathurst in 2012 to complete Bachelor of Sport Studies/ Bachelor of Communications (journalism) at Charles Sturt University. I started my career at The Blayney Chronicle in May 2015 and worked casually, one day a week at the Central Western Daily later on that year. I moved to Armidale in March 2016 to take on the role as the Northern Tablelands' sports journalist. Played a variety of sports in my lifetime including touch football, league tag, gymnastics, dance, cross country running and equestrian. Always happy to hear news and tips. www.facebook.com/ellendungerjournalist/
Originally from the Blue Mountains, I spent my teenage years in the Riverina at boarding school before moving to Bathurst in 2012 to complete Bachelor of Sport Studies/ Bachelor of Communications (journalism) at Charles Sturt University. I started my career at The Blayney Chronicle in May 2015 and worked casually, one day a week at the Central Western Daily later on that year. I moved to Armidale in March 2016 to take on the role as the Northern Tablelands' sports journalist. Played a variety of sports in my lifetime including touch football, league tag, gymnastics, dance, cross country running and equestrian. Always happy to hear news and tips. www.facebook.com/ellendungerjournalist/
