Geraldton juniors fail to take home overall wins from country week cricket but put in standout performances

Geraldton sent three junior cricket sides to country week this year and while none were able to take home the glory, many players stood out against tough competition.

The carnival ran from January 8-12, with the country sides playing across Perth.

The under-16s split their two T20 games on January 8, falling to Busselton Margaret River by eight runs, but they turned it around with a seven-run win over Broome.

Jack Annison stepped up during the win on both sides, leading the team with runs scored (31) and wickets taken (4-28) off four overs.

In the U16s’ first one-day match, Geraldton pulled out a 90-run win over Wellington despite five players being dismissed for ducks, with the vast majority of the work coming off Rex Heberle (80).

Geraldton’s luck ran out as they dropped their next three games to finish sixth in their division.

The under-14s had A-grade and C-grade teams.

The A-side couldn’t find much success early as they dropped all five games going into the finals.

During their battle for fifth place against Peel Country, Oliver MacPherson had a day out, taking 6-18 off 8.2 overs, including a hat-trick, to help Geraldton claim their lone win.

MacPherson came in to clutch for the side, taking the last wicket to win the game with five runs and four balls to spare. Oliver Risinger (52) also stepped up for Geraldton as the leading scorer.

The under-14s’ C-side found the most success out of the bunch, finishing third in their division going 2-1-1 in their four games.

Their best performance was their 139-run win against Upper Great Southern, where Brendon Bellottie led the side in runs scored (36) and wickets nabbed (3-4).