Northern Districts duo Sam Hobson and Jamie Phillipson, Dapto’s Jayden Zahra-Smith, Corrimal’s Connor Gray, Keira’s Matt Garnero and Tom Mott from Helensburgh were picked after Illawarra took out the carnival at Griffith. 

It’s only the second time Illawarra have won the under 14 competition, winning four of their five matches to finish one point ahead of Southern NSW-ACT. The triumph also means Illawarra will take on Sydney’s premier junior team in the annual City-Country challenge.

“The boys trained very hard in the lead up to the tournament,” coach Steve Davies said.  “We had a very clear game plan, which the boys executed almost perfectly.  “We worked on a leadership plan for our senior players and captain, who led the team extremely well.  The bowlers bowled to their field and the fielders then did their job also, keeping the opposition scores to a minimum all week.  The hard work has paid off.” Zahra-Smith was the standout player of the carnival, scoring 228 runs and only dismissed once, with a top score of 72 coming against Central Coast.

Mott took six wickets at an average of 12.8, while opening partner Garnero snared five wickets from 21 at an average of 15.4.

The Illawarra contingent in the South Eastern Zone team will play at the four-day State Challenge carnival at Dubbo, involing four regional and four metropolitan areas, starting on Monday.