Nat Young won't forget his first nationals in a hurry.
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Padding up alongside NSW's best cricketers with an intellectual disability at the National Cricket Inclusion Championships in Geelong, the South Tamworth allrounder not only impressed on the field but was given the honour of leading his state.
Young's father Mark said they were at the airport in Sydney preparing to fly out when the coach came up and asked Nat if he would captain the side for their first two games. The captain had had problems with his flights and was going to be late getting down there.
Mark said Nat was "incredibly excited" when he was offered the role knowing what "a great honour" it was.
At the same time he was understandably a little bit overawed having never captained a side before.
It was one of many firsts for the 27-year old.
"The whole thing was a brand new experience. Playing on different grounds and playing against opposition that you've never seen before," Mark said.
He had also never flown before, or really played any representative carnival cricket before, Mark describing the whole experience as an "amazing" one for his son.
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"It started with the presentation of the caps on the Saturday night," he said.
They were presented their caps on the ground at Spotless Stadium before the Sydney Thunder's Big Bash clash, which was a huge thrill.
Young had going into the tournament been described as one of the most promising players to join the side since the NCIC began, and he showed why.
After a bit of a slow start with the bat he was unbeaten in his last two knocks, scoring 30no against Western Australia and 29no against Queensland, to finish with one of the leading averages for the NSW side.
Bowling predominantly first change, he was also among the wickets.
Unfortunately the smoke from the bushfires affected the tournament with two day's play abandoned.
Still it was a great learning experience, Mark said, and has certainly whet Nat's appetite to continue to work hard on his game.
"He's looking forward to, if the opportunity comes up again, being part of the competition in 2021," he said.
For now though he will turn his focus to Souths.
He has predominantly been playing third grade but has stepped up to second grade for a couple of games.
Mark said they are very thankful to the support the club have given Nat.
He is also encouraging other parents or players that might want to find out more to get in contact with him.
"I'd like to talk to them about what's involved," he said.
Young wasn't the only Tamworth cricketer to feature at the championships with Brad Carriage playing for the victorious blind and low vision team.
Chasing their third straight title after being the first team to go back-to-back, they were undefeated for the tournament, securing the silverware with a nine wicket win over South Australia in the final.
