THREE of Tamworth’s fastest rising junior cricket stars are set to battle it out at the NSW State Challenge tournament in Dubbo this week.
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Ben Livingstone, Zac Craig and Charlie Henderson will take to the field for the Northern NSW side as it battles the best under-14 players from around the state.
The trio’s selection in the squad comes off the back of an impressive Kookaburra Cup campaign earlier in the month, where all three performed well with bat and ball.
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After participating in last year’s tournament, Livingstone said he is hopeful to “do even better this year”.
“I really can’t wait to get down there and get into it,” Livingstone said.
“Last year I went as a part of the under-13 side and had a lot of fun.
“Hopefully, I can take what I learned last year and do even better this time around.”
The Northern NSW side will have also have a local feel in the coaching ranks, with Tamworth’s Jeff Cook to help guide the side through the tournament.
“I think the big thing that helped me a lot last year was acting on the advice my coaches gave me throughout the carnival,” Livingstone said.
“If there was something that wasn’t quite going right they gave me some really good tips to help me improve.
“So that’s what I’ll be aiming to do this time around.”
Livingstone said his previous appearance at the carnival was helping to “keep the nerves down” this year.
“Given the amount of high-quality players that will be there I think it’s normal to be a bit nervous,” he said.
“However, having been there last year will really help me and I think it will help separate me from those who haven’t been before, who might be feeling the nerves a bit.
“I think there will be some really high-quality cricket played so it should be a lot of fun.”
The carnival wraps up on Thursday with each team to play each other once.
“I’m excited to get into it because it will be a lot of fun,” Livingstone said.
“There will be a lot to take away from it, so hopefully I can go well and really learn a lot.”
The region will also be represented throughout the carnival at under-13 level, with Harry Lewington and Logan Spinks set to line up for Northern Sixers.