HAMILTON and District Junior Cricket Association continues to send representative teams to country week carnivals, with the Under-13 Portland competition the next stop on the journey.

The Hurricanes will send two teams to Portland next week to contest the competition with Craig Templeton (Hamilton Gold) and David Hintum (Hamilton Green) guiding the two teams.

Hintum has vast experience as a representative player and he is passing his knowledge onto the littlest Hurricanes, while Templeton is a Level 2 accredited coach who has undertaken this role for the past few summers.

The teams will play a maximum of six T20 matches across the three-day event which will test the players’ skill levels and their stamina, as many will not have undertaken such a workload before.

Every team that competes at representative level goes to these competitions seeking to win, but that can only be achieved by one side, although all teams will other goals they aspire to.

“The goal for my players is to be exposed to a higher level and challenge themselves to compete at this level”, Hintum said.

“I believe one of the best aspects of representative cricket is the friendships you form with people you usually play against.”

“I want to make the experience as enjoyable as possible foremost and to provide an atmosphere that allows the players to play fearless cricket,” Templeton said.

Each team will have their leaders within the team that the coaches will look to play different roles throughout the carnival.

“Billy Rhook, Spurs Lynch and Oscar Templeton will be three players that the rest will follow,” Templeton said.

“With 10 top-age players in the side, the players will be looking for leadership from all these boys,” Hintum said.

“Tom Templeton and Ned Hintum are co-captains who will open the batting and share the wicketkeeping duties.

“I think our bowlers will be our strength with Jobe Dunn as our strike bowler, while Hugh Prentice, Connor Lambert, Mitch Munroe and Tom and Ned chiming in with the pace bowling.

“Our spinners are young and developing But Xander McIntosh and Cooper Kearney will step up when called upon, while I’m looking to the all-round skills of Chad Logan with either bat or ball in hand.”

Both coaches agreed that what the players take from the carnival is just as important as what they do while playing it.

“I hope all players can take some of the things they learn from Country Week back to their local clubs to help improve the standard of the HDJCA,” Hintum said.

“Just the basics, like backing up when in the field, and running between the wickets and bowling six good balls an over so that it becomes second nature to the players.

“Most of all we aim to give all the boys a chance to do well at some point, have fun and love their cricket.

“I am hoping the boys realise that they have the ability to compete with the best of their peers and to push their skills to another level.”