Dubbo’s Emma Hughes has made a strong start to the Under 18 National Championships, where her NSW Country side sits second in pool A’s Twenty20 rankings.
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Hughes and her fellow bowlers have been used sparingly in the opening days of the two-week carnival, the Macquarie seamer completing just 14.3 overs across the first four games.
But that hasn’t stopped her making an impact.
Hughes managed figures of 0-6 from three and 0-15 from four in NSW Country’s wins over Victoria Metro and Northern Territory, before her breakthrough wicket came against Queensland. She caught and bowled opener Charli Knott for a duck.
NSW Country lost both of Tuesday’s games, including a devastating state of origin loss when Queensland, batting second, caught the Bush Blues’ 136-run total with just two balls remaining.
Hughes is yet to bat – she’s put in enormous efforts to improve that area of her game – but will get her chance during next week’s one-day championship.
Orange junior Phoebe Litchfield is also making her mark at the titles, with Cricket NSW coaching and talent specialist Greg McLay saying “they’re both really, really good young players”.
He said Litchfield in particular, who is playing in the under-age CA XI as a 15-year-old, was “unbelievable and rated very highly”.