DUBBO'S Marty Jeffrey has continued his outstanding season with selection in the NSW side for the upcoming National Indigenous Cricket Championships (NICC).
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Jeffrey is the youngest player in the NSW side which will be aiming to win its first Imparja Cup since 2012 when the competition begins at Alice Springs next Monday.
Jeffrey, who made his Western Zone debut earlier this season, played a starring role for the Sydney Thunder at last year's inaugural Aboriginal T20 Cup against the Sydney Sixers and that went a long way to sealing his selection.
"It's something that's been my goal for a few years now," the 16-year-old said of his selection.
"It was my first real goal and I remember when I was a kid watching a couple of games so I'm looking forward to playing in it and it's good that I've made it."
The RSL-Colts youngster will be joined by another Dubbo product in the side with former Rugby quick Ben Patterson also chosen.
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Patterson has achieved success with ball and bat since making the move to Hawkesbury in the Sydney grade competition and is shaping as a key player for NSW at Alice Springs.
The squad features a number of experienced players from Sydney and also the Australian Capital Territory competition and Jeffrey is aiming to use this tournament for experience and the chance to improve his game further.
"Obviously it's going to be another chance for me to learn from and I've just got to keep doing what I've been doing and keep improving," he said.
"Being the youngest around the older blokes it will be good to watch them.
"I doubt I'll get a lot of cricket but it goes for a week so hopefully I'll get on the field for a couple of days."
Despite achieving so much success for someone so young, the leg-spinning all-rounder is keeping his feet firmly planted on the ground.
The youngster has had the chances recently to train at the Sydney Cricket Ground and rub shoulders with some of the biggest names in the game but is refusing to get too carried away or set too many goals at this stage.
"I'm going alright but obviously I can't get too far ahead of myself," he said.
"I've just got to keep doing these things and keep getting better so I'll play this and then come the off-season I'll work hard so I can do it all again.
"The goal is to just keep getting better. There's lots of opportunities in cricket and a heap of teams you can make so you could name all those teams as goals but I just want to keep working towards them."
Jeffrey also took some time to praise the RSL-Colts club, who he credits with a lot of his improvement.
The teenager has been regularly batting towards the top of the order and getting through plenty of overs despite the defending premiers having a side stacked with other talented players.
"They showed me you don't just turn up and play each week, you're playing for a reason and this has been my best year of Dubbo cricket," Jeffrey said.
"My scores might not show it but learning-wise it has been."
The NICC begins at Alice Springs next Monday, February 2 and runs through to the 15th.