At just 15 and 13 years of age, respectively, Lara Graham and Deni Baker will be two of the younger players at the NSW Schoolgirl Championships this week in Bathurst.
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Not that it worries the Oxley High School students – it motivates them.
“You’ve gotta step up your game a bit more,” Baker said of playing older cricketers.
“Then you don’t worry about it,” Graham added.
Graham and Baker will line up for the NSW CHS second side, alongside Gunnedah High School’s Zoe Fleming, after impressing at the NSWCHSSA Girls Cricket Championships last week.
Like any batsman, Graham is keen for runs at the upcoming carnival after feeling like she could have went better at the CHS carnival last week.
“I probably wasn't at my peak but...I had a good last day. I scored 40 so that was pretty good,” Graham said.
Baker was happy with her performances despite having to bowl her left arm orthodox on synthetics pitches.
“I went pretty good,” Baker said.
“We played most games on synthetic, so, I’m probably not my strongest on synthetic but I ended up getting a couple wickets in the end so I’m pretty happy with that.”
The cricketers only had a short four-day break in between carnivals with the four-day CHS championships wrapping up last Thursday with the North West side scoring two wins and two losses.
The NSW Schoolgirl Championships will be a three-day event – they run from March 6-8 – and while the girls said they do feel it after being on the field for so long, they’re used to it.
“We’re, sort of, used to playing in a long tournament because both Deni and I have played country championships and nationals [which are] long tournaments when we have to be on our game all the time,” Graham said.
