Emerging locals on the big stage

By Jonty Ralphsmith

The Under-19 National Championships took place in Adelaide in mid-December, giving the best cricketers around the country an opportunity to compete against each other.

Vic Metro defeated Vic Metro by seven wickets in the final, with each side’s progression that far in the tournament meaning each played six games, giving plenty of time for players to develop under high-quality coaching.

Casey-South Melbourne First XI middle-order batter Harrish Kannan, fast bowler Devlin Webb and tweaker Liam O’Connor, who plies his trade in the Second XI, all featured in the championships, while Dandenong’s sole representative was Josh Sawrey.

Spinner Harkirat Bajwa, who played his junior cricket at Narre Warren South also featured, as did batting all-rounder Harry DeMattia, a duel-sporting prospect who plays football for Dandenong Stingrays.

Both play their cricket for the Melbourne Cricket Club.

Bajwa, who represented Australia at the Under-19 World Cup last year, was satisfied with his performance, claiming 10 wickets at the National Championships.

The 18-year-old believes he has previously underperformed at similar representative championships but was in a good frame-of-mind in the lead up to this event.

“I felt like I bowled to my potential and playing in the World Cup gave me the confidence to go out there and express myself,” Bajwa said.

“That (playing at the World Cup) took the pressure off me because you see the pressure at the next level – you see how the best players go about their work so at this level you feel free to do your stuff.

“I was still experimenting at finding my way at the last carnival, but this time I was happy to follow my plans and that worked out.”

Below is a game-by-game statistical output of each local player.

Devlin Webb: 51 runs at an average of 17 and strike rate of 88; six wickets at an average of 45 and economy rate of 5.95.

Harrish Kannan: 80 runs at an average of 20 and strike rate of 47; zero wickets at an economy rate of 3.66.

Liam O’Connor: 10 runs at an average of five and strike rate of 42; three wickets at an average of 53 and economy rate of 5.00.

Josh Sawrey: 36 runs at an average of 36 and strike rate of 106; three wickets at an average of 52 and economy rate of 4.46.

Harkirat Bajwa: 42 runs at an average of 10.5 and strike rate of 42; 10 wickets at an average of 26 and economy rate of 4.36.

Harry DeMattia: 225 runs at an average of 75 and strike rate of 85; one wicket at an average of 19 and economy rate of 3.80.