Ahost of talented young Limestone Coast cricketers travelled to Adelaide to represent the South East in the Under 12 Country Week.
The youngsters kicked off their campaign with a tough loss to Fleurieu and Districts on a difficult pitch due to overnight wet weather, before bouncing back the next day with a win over Yorke Peninsula.
Millicent’s Steve Duldig, who coached the side, said the competition had been quite strong across the games.
“It’s been good, it can vary a bit but it’s pretty strong and you tend to have some pretty strong cricketers as well as a few kids that are still learning at that level,” he said.
“As a whole it’s a pretty good competition and definitely a step up to what most of the kids would have experienced before.
“It’s good for them to get a bit of a taste of what it’s like at that level.”
Duldig said Hugh Clark played a pivotal role for the team in their first match.
“It was obviously a low scoring game so we did not have a lot of run scorers,” he said.
“Young Hugh Clark from East Gambier took three wickets in the innings so he was probably the standout.
“The next game Pacey Duldig took three wickets and finished 3/7, and then batting wise Pacey made 30, Raff Lawlor made 16 and he hit the winning runs, Eddie Dolphin from Naracoorte made 19 and they were probably the main ones with everyone also contributing.”
Overall Duldig said he was proud of how the side played.
“As a coach I have been really proud of the boys in their first two games, they have had some challenges but have not given up and have persevered and obviously came away with the win on Tuesday,” he said.
“So from a coaching point of view I’m just really proud of the way the boys have acquitted themselves so far.”
After the team’s first two games they took on Barossa and Light in round three and suffered a tough loss.
On the final day the side played off against Upper North in a Pool A third v Pool B third match.
Upper North batted first and made 79 runs in 30 overs.
The South East batted extremely well, making 80 runs in 10 overs to seal the win.
Eddie Dolphin finished on 24 while Pacy Duldig made 23.
