Harry Roscarel stars as Western Zone finishes Bradman Cup on a high

As a teammate at South Dubbo in the RSL Whitney Cup, the veteran bat gets to witness the teenager's exciting skills on a weekly basis while last week at Newcastle he again had the best seat in the house.

Rummans was the coach of the Western Zone under 16s side which bounced back from a disappointing start to the Bradman Cup by winning three of its final four matches.

Western's best was saved for last as a fantastic Roscarel century led his side to a competition-high total of 7/322 against Central North on Friday.

READ ALSO:

Roscarel finished the carnival with 319 runs at an average of just over 53. His 102 off just 90 balls to finish the competition followed efforts of 79 not out from 81 balls against Central Coast and 53 off 47 against Greater Illawarra.

His ability to control games while in the middle and manipulate the field as well as blast boundaries was what again stood out the most to his coach.

"What do you say about Harry?" Rummans said.

"He moves so beautifully and he just sees the game. Not everyone plays that way. He's got the power doesn't always need it.

"He can take twos where other kids are lucky to take one. He's a special player."

While Roscarel was the star, Western was by no means a one-man band.

Captain Max Richardson, also of South Dubbo, stood up when needed with both bat and ball while Orange's Max Richards, Hugh Taylor of Bathurst and Dubbo's Cooper Giddings were others who contributed in a big way.

Richards was Western's standout with the ball and was rewarded with 5/51 against eventual champions Newcastle, while Richardson got better as the tournament went and made scores of 60 and 55 and took 3/18 in one match, Taylor hit 66 not out and 40, and Giddings impressed with bat and as keeper as a bottom-age player.

Jack Milne and Blake Dillon also did a job with the ball while Rummans singled out Blayde Burke for praise despite the Bathurst youngster only taking one wicket all carnival.

"He was outstanding. I probably rate him in our top two bowlers," the coach said, before mentioning Richards' efforts.

"His five-fa against Newcastle was fantastic...he picked up five wickets and he had a crack every day. I was so impressed with him. There wasn't really a bad day for him."

Western finished the carnival in fifth place overall but the coach felt that was a slightly harsh result.

Western had little luck during the first round of matches pre-Christmas. Batting first on a wet deck in a narrow three-wicket day one loss against Riverina, who went on to finish as runners-up, was difficult and that defeat was followed by losses to Illawarra and ACT.

But things were put right last week when Western's only defeat came at the hands of Newcastle.

"I'm really proud," Rummans said.

"They probably doubted themselves a bit after that first section but they really were unlucky.

"I think Newcastle, Riverina and Western were the three strongest sides. That's what I saw from the competition as far as depth and quality goes."

While the dust has barely settled on the Bradman Cup for this season, Rummans spoke of the future with real excitement.

With the likes of Roscarel leading the charge and Giddings, Burke, Cooper Townsend and Cooper Pullen all proving up to the level required as bottom-age players, Rummans said there's a strong nucleus to the side to watch moving forward.

"There was contributions from everyone. I can't think of anyone that didn't contribute in a positive way," Rummans said.

"It's good to take a team like that away. I'm very proud of them and they're a good bunch of kids and players.

"Hopefully they stick together like this season's under 18s did.

"If the majority of them stick together they'll probably win the under 18s (country championships) like this year's mob did."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: