It took a few games but Brock Larance has begun to fire for ACT/NSW Country at the Cricket Australia Under 19 National Championships.
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Larance is one of three Dubbo juniors, alongside Tom Atlee and Henry Railz, playing in the championships in Perth.
Larance started the tournament slowly but after going agonisingly close to a century in Monday's loss to Queensland, he said things are starting to look brighter.
Larance, a former Australian under 17s representative, showed his supreme talents when banging 10 fours and six on his way to 97 from 112 balls on Monday.
"It feels good to start to contribute," Larance said.
"I've had a few 40s and 20s but I haven't performed to my standards that I set. But I am pretty hard on myself."
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ACT/NSW Country has won three of its last five games, defeating Western Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania to set a semi-final date with NSW Metro.
In the first match against Victoria Metro former Souths all-rounder Railz, now playing with Penrith, scored a team high 57 kick-starting his campaign while his side was comfortably defeated.
The second match against Victoria Country saw Railz again fire with the bat scoring 48 and also taking 1/17 in the side loss.
The third game against Western Australia, Larance began to find his feet scoring 45 and taking 1/18 while Railz continued to contribute with the bat scoring 28 with ACT/NSW Country having their first win.
In the fourth match against Tasmania, both Larance and Railz failed to fire but Atlee cleaned the the tail up claiming 2/20, again the side won.
Atlee has been in and out of the side due to bowling restrictions and workload.
The fifth match against Northern Territory was again a win with Larance scoring a quickfire 25 and taking 2/29 while Railz also took a wicket.
Ahead of Wednesday's semi-final date with their fierce rivals, Larance believes they are yet to play their best cricket.
"One thing I have learned at this tournament is you don't need to play your best cricket, it all matters that you play well enough to make the semi's and hopefully the final.
"It's going to be a good challenge [against NSW Metro]. We lost both our trial matches against them but the same happened last year and we won the comp.
"Our blokes are all keen and most of our side play in Sydney with or against them so we know how they play and what to expect from them."
Larance has the quality to beat NSW Metro even after their loss to Queensland on Monday.
"Although we didn't get off to the best start, it's been a learning curve (so far) and we have the firepower to do the job." he said
The winner of the battle between the NSW sides will play against the winner of the two Victorian teams at the famous WACA ground in Thursday's final.
An Australian under 19s side will also be selected after the tournament to compete in the World Cup in South Africa early next year.
