No Real Recognition For Best In The Bush
Newcastle Herald
Thursday January 15, 2004
COUNTRY cricketers have been denied their crowning glory because no Australian Country XI will be selected following the championships in Mount Gambier.
The curtain will fall on the championships today but there will be no encore performance for a representative side against India, Zimbabwe or South Australia.
Traditionally, the Australian Country XI play a match against one of the two teams touring Australia for the one-day tri-series.
In the event both teams were unavailable for the match, the Australia Country XI have always played a game against the host state. This year, however, the best bush cricketers in country Australia will get nothing.
The Australian Country Championships committee is guided by Cricket Australia and they could not offer a touring team within the two-week period of the championships.
The same thing occurred in the 2000-01 season when Newcastle's Mark Cameron and Glenn Grimmond were selected in the Australian Country team.
That year officials organised the Australian Country XI to play Western Australia midway through the championships and Zimbabwe two weeks later at Bradman Oval in Bowral. This year South Australian officials refused to play a one-day game against the country team.
``It has always been something the players have looked forward to," NSW Country Cricket chief executive John Sullivan said yesterday.
``It has gone by the way this year and they are not even going to pick an honour side."
Newcastle has a strong representation in the NSW Country side that will make a charge for first place in the final day of the game against Queensland today.
NSW Country captain Simon Moore, Merewether's Duncan McIlveen, Hamilton-Wickham's Darren Herbert and Belmont's Brad Bannister would have all been in the frame. Newcastle City batsman Michael Gerits had a top score of 81 going into the final game, and East Asia Pacific and former Newcastle batsman Jamie Brazier would have been a certain selection after scores of 104 and 162.
© 2004 Newcastle Herald
