Mount Gambier’s Under 13 cricket team crossed the border recently to compete in the Port of Portland U/13 Country Week.
This year the side competed against the best as they played in Division 1.
The team played five one day games across three days, taking on other top Western Victoria sides like Warrnambool, Hamilton, South West and Horsham.
Mount Gambier coach Luke Rainey said the side is looking good despite it being younger than previous years.
“It’s looking pretty good, it’s a reasonably younger side to the past couple of years but there is definitely a lot of talent there,” he said.
Despite the side being in Division 1 Rainey believes the side will still be competitive.
“We are in Division 1 which is the strongest of the two divisions against the Warrnambool sides and the Horsham sides who tend to be pretty competitive,” he said.
“But I think our kids will take it up to them.”
The side kicked off their campaign on January 13th with a game against Warrnambool Moyne Blue.
The side could not get a win to kick off the carnival, only scoring 74 to Warrnambool’s 115.
In round two the team suffered a big loss to a very good side in South West where they posted a score of 164 which was a bit too much for Mount Gambier as they finished the 25 overs on 104 runs.
In round three Mount Gambier faced another tough opponent in Hamilton who made a score of 140 which was a tough task as Mount Gambier could only make 79.
The side could not come up with a win in round four as they took on Warrnambool Moyne Gold and went down as Warrnambool put up a score of 150.
In the final game Mount Gambier battled hard to finish with a score of 75 however they struggled to slow down Horsham as they made up the runs quickly and finished with 83.
Despite not winning a game Rainey thought the team competed hard in the division 1 competition and improved a lot over the week.
“Despite not winning a game the team improved significantly over the carnival with the young side competing in the strong division 1 pool of the carnival”, he said.
“With eight out of the twelve player squad all eligible for next year’s carnival the signs are promising for the MGDCA.”
Rainey believed there were a number of kids who improved and played well in the carnival.
“The side grew over the five games with strong performances from Henry Milne 76 runs, Hugh Clark 67 runs, Parker Lamont 44 runs, James Manninen 4 wickets and Rafferty Geary 3 wickets with the fielding of Kayleigh Albert also a highlight”, he said.
