Callee Black and Maddy Spence to play for NSW Country at Under 16s National Female Cricket Championships

Wellington junior Black, who now calls Bathurst home, will be vice-captain of the NSW Country side at the Canberra tournament and will is one of two Western representatives in the team, along with Parkes' Maddy Spence.

All-rounder Black picked up a couple of key wickets and runs at the under 19s competition a month ago and will be keen to build upon that for the NSW Country 16s over the course of their eight matches in the ACT.

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NSW Country coach Andrew Litchfield has had the opportunity to see Black develop her game over recent years.

He's looking forward to seeing what Black and her teammates can bring at the national level.

"Callee's a really talented left arm fast bowler and a great batter. She's also fantastic in the field. We're hoping she has a big championships, and she'll be vice-captain of the side," he said.

"I think the important thing is to never go over with huge expectations. It's just about going down there and playing the game, and I think we're better off taking that attitude.

"She's a player with a lot of ability, as is Maddy Spence. Mads is another talented all-rounder. They'll both play a big part in this side."

The Country NSW team is composed of a great variety of talent from around the state, with no two regional zones boasting more than two players in the team.

It's naturally hard to place where Country NSW might sit on the pecking order before the tournament gets underway but Litchfield said there's a great atmosphere around the camp after a couple of promising results in warm-up games.

"We came down here a couple of days ago, and I hadn't met half of this team before, so it's been a fun challenge getting the side together," he said.

"We had two practice games against the [NSW] Metro side, who train together two times a week, and we've managed to win both of those games, which is a great boost for us. They were both really close games and I think both teams got a lot out of it.

"I like the challenge of bringing a side like this together. They've got a great leadership group who lead them around the field well. Our message to them is to just play what's in front of you.

"At under 16s it's certainly a bit trickier to predict what to expect from other teams when compared to 19s. The NSW Metro has some fantastic players, they're a well drilled side and they train together a lot.

"Queensland are always strong, as will be the Victoria Metro and Country sides, and South Australia seem to have a very good pathway system going at the moment. I think all the sides will be very competitive."

NSW Country and NSW Metro will meet once again in Thursday opening fixture of the tournament, which gets underway from 10am.

All teams will each play four Twenty20 games over the first two days of the competition before three one-day matches to determine who plays in the final on January 12.

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