Greater Illawarra Zone senior men's representative cricket team will compete in the Country Plan B Bash and Country Championships in Tamworth starting this Thursday.
The squad is made up of players from the Illawarra, South Coast and Shoalhaven cricket associations.
Not surprisingly seven of the 13-players in the squad featured in the Illawarra team which won the rain-interrupted Creighton Cup tournament.
The squad features a number of batsmen in form, with Bailey Abela, Ethan de Bono and Ben Phillips smashing centuries for Illawarra during the Creighton Cup campaign.
Cooper Maddinson (Wollongong) and Jack McDonald (Shellharbour City) also hit hundreds for their respective clubs in recent weeks
Grant Tilling will coach Greater Illawarra, with Jackson Surman to serve as manager.
Tilling said while there were some players unavailable he was very excited with the young, youthful side picked for the country championships.
"It really is exciting. We've chosen a very young, youthful team which has a lot of guys in there that are all coming off scoring big hundreds over the last few weeks. That's great news for us," he said.
"Our squad is also tinged with some experienced players, noticeably Justin Weller and some guys making their senior rep debut in David Wood, Bailey Abela, Ben Phillips and Ethan de Bono.
"Bailey is in the Under 19 state squad and he played recently with me in the Colts championships. This is a step up for the guys but I have confidence they can handle it."
Similar to last year, Tilling expects defending champions Newcastle to be Greater Illawarra's biggest threat.
Greater Illawarra are drawn to play Newcastle, Central North and Central Coast in the first three days of the championships running from November 16 to 20.
The winner of this south pool will play the winner of the north pool in the decider on Sunday.
"Newcastle will be our biggest threat to making the final, absolutely," Tilling said.
"They have always had a strong squad and last year we held with them but they just pipped us for the final.
"I'm sure they'll be just as tough this year. We are looking forward to the challenge."
The Greater Illawarra squad:
- Bailey Abela
- Kealan Blattner
- Angus Cumming
- Ethan De Bono
- Adam Ison
- Cooper Maddinson
- Jack McDonald
- Ben Phillips
- Ben Rogers
- Pushpinder Singh Jassal
- Dan Smith
- Justin Weller
- David Wood
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
